The photo was on the back page of the MoundVue employee magazine I created as that semester's PR intern at EG&G Mound Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility in Miamisburg, Ohio. They basically made parts for nuclear weapons for the federal government. At least that's how I boiled it down. I never learned the real details because I worked outside the "perimeter."
All employees had to have a high-level federal security clearance. But due to a backlog in requests and approvals, mine never arrived the entire semester. So I was stationed in a small office building outside the main gates with about two dozen engineers, researchers and IT analysts.
They didn't have much to do since their jobs depended on access to classified information. I however was busy creating a 32-page internal magazine. So I had lots of employees to interview about their jobs, then write about them. It was a lot of responsibilities to ask of an intern. But I was paid a regular entry-level employee's salary, much of which I saved for my escape to New York.
All employees had to be tested for radiation exposure on their first day and then on their last to see if any differences popped up. Don't worry, the only thing that glows about me is my personality.
I was so proud of the end result. I loved pulling the magazine out of The World's Heaviest Briefcase in my first New York job interviews to show off my stories. And my headshot. I wanted people to know I was a PR star. Ah, youth...
I thought my magazine then confirmed my ambition. But now I also see it was an essential experience in honing my craft in a corporate environment with real-world deadlines and expectations. A big thank you to my bosses there, Lesley Sprigg and the late Howard Charbeneau, who became supportive mentors to the kid with big hair and bigger dreams.
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