TaLeiza Calloway

TaLeiza J. Calloway

Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio

College: Kent State University

Host newspaper: St. Cloud (Minn.) Times

What I know about my internship paper:
Founded in 1861, the St. Cloud Times specializes in local news and is considered the leading news source for Central Minnesota. The paper has a circulation of over 28,112 daily and 37,034 on Saturdays and Sundays. It is developing a strong Web presence and is growing in the area of multimedia.

The paper has 285 employees. The newsroom consists of 21 editors, copy editors and presentation/graphics editors, 17 reporters (including features and sports) and four photographers. Six employees are designated as "other," including online staff and news assistants.

What I’ll be doing at my internship newspaper:
I anticipate that I’ll be writing features and news stories and helping with other projects.

How I got interested in journalism:
Writing is the one thing other than my family that truly makes me happy. I wrote for a literary magazine in high school (mostly poetry). In college I got involved in journalism (The Carroll News, Daily Kent Stater, The Burr magazine). Seeing my byline was exciting, and I knew that reporting and composing an informative story was what I wanted to do professionally.

What I’ll pack:
I’ll bring a dictionary, thesaurus, the AP Stylebook, notebooks, my digital camera, pens, my laptop, curling irons, a CD player, Heavenly perfume by Victoria’s Secret, my Cleveland Cavaliers T-shirt, white Air Force One tennis shoes, CDs by Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, “The Wiz” DVD and Rita Dove’s “American Smooth” book of poetry.

What I do for fun:
I enjoy writing in my journal, listening to music, watching movies, reading poetry, roller-skating and playing volleyball.

Favorite Web site(s): cleveland.com, ebonyjet.com