I've spent the afternoon compiling my internship applications. Some asked for an essay, so I wrote this:

It is 5:05pm in the newsroom and the newscast just started. It’s a smooth start, everyone is in place. Cameras are rolling. Headsets are on.

It is 6:55 in the newsroom. Tensions are thick. Tempers are on edge. Beads of sweat are forming on the face of every crew member. Time is God. The director asks, “Where are we? How do we look for time?” Someone responds “Three minute story, I need three minutes.” The director barks, “Too Long! Two, you’ve got two minutes not three, make it happen!”

At UPS, a supervisor walks her area. 120,000 packages have been unloaded in the past three hours. It is five minutes until the entire shift shuts down. Her phone rings. “How long, how are we looking for time?” her manager asks. She responds, “Three minutes, I need three minutes.” The manager barks, “Too Long! Two minutes, you make it happen in two.”

She runs to one area then to the next area. Her radio in hand, she hears everyone on the shift scrambling to make the deadline set by the manager. Her employees are sweating. Out of breath she relays commands, “TWO MINUTES! Make it happen! Speed it up! Knock it down!”

My name is Nani Mathews. I thrive on energy. I smirk at chaos. I work best under pressure. I was made for the newsroom.

(When I was 16 I saw the inside of the CNN newsroom on the CNN tour. Ever since, I've been trying to get inside there again, this time I want to be on the other side of glass.)