With two more issues left of the DEN this summer, this will most likely be my last column. So I thought I’d use it to share some of the things I have learned this summer, my last bits of advice.

When school let out last May, the one thing I was looking forward to most was my internship at The Sullivan News Progress.

At first, I thought it would be exactly the same as working at the DEN.

But while the main concept of writing and reporting was there, I didn’t understand back then that interviewing the community would be different than interviewing Eastern.

People have welcomed me into their houses (opposed to meeting up at the Union), I’ve attended programs for little kids (opposed to programs for college students), and I’ve met people that have inspired me, people who are different and unique.

And while there are inspiring people at Eastern, I have never before felt the way I did when interviewing the Group Work Camp kids, who paid about $400 on their own or through fundraising in order to come to Sullivan and work on people’s houses for free.

The main lesson here is-if you’re in college, take an internship. It will open up your eyes to so many different things in your major, things you won’t learn in class.

Although I learned a lot from my internship, there were other things that went on this summer, too.

Like, when my friends and I decided to get together one weekend to go camping. I don’t even know how to start explaining this one.

First off, we were totally unorganized. Since the seven of us live between an hour and four hours away from each other, the main concerns were that the mode of transportation kept changing, and the location kept changing.

At the last minute, we decided to camp here in Charleston, at Fox Ridge.

And it couldn’t have been rainier weather. It was muddy, and most importantly – we couldn’t get wet logs to light on fire.

Even when we got store bought logs, they still didn’t work. Everyone wanted to try and fix the fire their own way, and it caused way too much argument.

We wound up leaving early Sunday morning, when we had originally planned to stay until the afternoon.

I think I learned that even though things can go rough sometimes, you shouldn’t let it come down to petty arguments with your friends. And even though it is going to happen sometimes, you can’t let it get in the way of what you think of your friends as a whole.

Since summer is almost over, I’m looking forward to the school year. I hope with the lessons I have learned, I can become a better journalist and a better friend.

Sam Sottosanto is a junior journalism major.. She can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENopinions@gmail.com.