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Profile
of Mike McKee, Intern, External Relations, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
12/07
by Andy Marshall, PPW/Writing Center Publicity Intern
 Mike
McKee sits down for his PPW Internship interview just five days
before the add/drop period ends. He knows that he has to nail this
interview, get the position, and get the appropriate paperwork filled
out quickly. Sure enough, he got the position. After that, he only
proceeded to work in a position that made him decide what field
he wanted to work in after graduation.
Mike, an English Writing/Fiction major, spent the Fall of 2007 working
at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the External Relations
department. Here, he was responsible for many different projects.
His first project was to write a press release about a $400,000
grant that the Library had just received. Unfortunately for Mike,
he didn’t know the first thing about writing a press release.
Thankfully, Mike was able to quickly learn the language of the Library
and became good at writing press releases. Mike was also responsible
for organizing the bulletin boards on the second and third floors,
writing newsletters, designing brochures, creating internal advertising,
writing grants, and doing a little work with graphic design. He
also worked on the creation of a Wikipedia page for the Library.
Clearly Mike was not willing to settle for “just being an
intern,” as by his second week there, he was rubbing elbows
with Ben Roethlisberger, who came to read to children as the national
spokesperson for Library Card Sign-Up Month. “It was really
fun, as well as a great learning experience,” says Mike.
Despite the 20+ minute commute to Oakland, 35 hours of work each
week off campus, and being a full-time student, Mike found the time
to fully immerse himself into his work. “Yes, it’s tough
driving down here every morning and not getting paid, but I think
the things I’ve learned here are more valuable that money.
I feel better prepared to enter the professional workplace when
I graduate in December,” Mike says.
Future interns, Mike does have some advice for you: “Just
knowing how office life works, listening to everything that goes
on around you is probably the greatest tip I can give. Involve yourself
in everything you can and ask questions about things – even
if you have nothing to do with the project. Learning everything
that I could about the Library helped when I was working on my projects,
and when I was asked my opinion on things, I sounded like I knew
what I was talking about."
With graduation coming in December for Mike, he is not sure what
his future holds. However, thanks to his time at the Carnegie Library,
he knows more of what he is looking for. He can see his future in
the nonprofit field. That being said, he has one specific expectation
for his life. “I want to do something with my writing that
is going to make a difference and help people. We should never underestimate
the power of the pen.”
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