This week marks the end of my time working at The Interim and Campaign Life Coalition. I dread leaving the people and places that shaped my summer behind. Here are some important lessons I’ve learned over the past four months.
I learned …
That the same core message can be used for different audiences and purposes.
How to conduct interviews, and smash a few idols in the process. Some things that were knocked off their pedestals, including my solidly conservative politics (which had been teetering at the edge for quite some time), famous pro-life personalities, and even facets of the pro-life movement itself.
How to tolerate, and maybe learn to enjoy, some parts of radical feminist websites.
How to tame my high stress levels and inner control freak … sort of.
How to keep up with current events, and refrain from rushed, uninformed commentary in response to them.
How to come to terms with human weakness.
How to explore the fine line between bravery and recklessness, and find out where my pro-life experiences will place me on that continuum.
How to plan for the future, take even more criticism than my prior pro-life work had thrown at me, and handle sensitive hearts – mine included.
This list, of course, does not encompass everything my experience as a full-time pro-life writer taught me. I’m sure there are lessons that cannot be published here because I still don’t have words for them. In spite of my slight linguistic shortfall, everything will be taken home with me so that I can put it to use in my activism, school, and the rest of my life. I hope to continue writing for the Interim in the future, and I am indescribably grateful for the opportunity that was given to me.
Taylor Hyatt was a Summer student at The Interim.
