Merrit Pope joined the Digital Media Engagement (DME) team as an editing intern this August. A sophomore at Hillsdale College studying philosophy and religion, Merrit learned about the internship through a friend who was a past DME intern. He saw value in working on a virtual internship while completing his schoolwork and felt well-adjusted within the first few weeks: “There’s a lot of work to be done but it’s honestly enjoyable for me.”
There is definitely a lot of work to be done. All posts (including this one) go through two different editors who comb through the text to make sure everything adheres to the AP Style, follows DME writing guidelines and is as clear as possible for our readers. This requires the editors to know the AP Style like the back of their hand and pay close attention to detail.
Merrit’s favorite part of the internship is working on America250 posts, the weekly Veteran spotlight running through America’s 250th birthday in 2026. He enjoys being able to work on interesting stories about Veterans who have served our country. In the future, he looks forward to working on more special projects. He plans to leverage his internship experience with DME to bolster his editing and writing experience, make connections and boost his resume. Thanks to the internship, he now sees editing as a possible career path in his future.
Merrit knows that it can be daunting to apply to a position like editing for the VA. He edited a literary journal in high school, but even he was nervous about joining DME. His advice? Don’t hesitate! The DME team is always happy to welcome new members: “I wish I had known how friendly and welcoming everyone would be!”
Writer: Nolan Lounsbery
Editor: Annabelle Colton, Julia Pack
Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelley
