Glamour Intern Discovers God's Calling
“You are interning at Glamour?” were some of the forthwith comments Christine Lairson received when she shared with friends that she was interning at Glamour magazine in New York.
Glamour is not the typical place a Seventh-day Adventist Christian is expected to work. It is a women’s magazine that carries the image of fashion, beauty and sex.
Christine is an English major, Journalism minor in her sophomore year at Andrews University. She started her internship at Glamour magazine on January 5, 2011.
“It was a whirlwind experience,” Christine says of her quest to get an internship. Christine was the guest speaker of Professor Debbie Michel’s Magazine and Feature Writing class. The interview was conducted via telephone.
Over the Christmas break Chrissy, as she is affectionately known by her friends, met the Creative Director at Glamour—a contact that was made through her uncle who reunited with the Glamour executive at their High School reunion. During her talk with the executive, Chrissy was advised to visit the website ed2010.com, which is a portal for individuals wishing to land a magazine job. To her absolute surprise, there was an opening at Glamour—a position that had no association with her uncle’s friend.
Without hesitation, Christine applied. Landing an interview she learned that for the next three months her world would be surrounded with belts, jewelry, hats, bags—and anything to do with accessorizing the Glamour models outfits—Christine was the new accessory coordinator.
Christine worked 12-hour days for a $12-a-day stipend. “I feel like it’s worth it,” she says of her experience. Although, it was an unpaid internship, being fully submerged in the magazine industry taught her a lot. She learned that landing one internship and being well liked, could land her another internship; that networking is important and most of all the experience taught her some things about herself and her expectations for the future.
“I have realized that most of the people in this industry are not Christians,” Chrissy says of her observation, “The priorities of people are so different.” She noticed that a lot of people there are self-absorbed and they want the latest and the greatest outfits. “The other interns have noticed that I am not like them,” she says, and that was O.K. with Christine who was there to do her best and to serve.
Being a Christian has proven to be rewarding to Christine, who has had an Adventist Christian education since childhood. She indicated that she was seen as hardworking and trustworthy at Glamour and twice gained opportunities that the other interns were not privy to.
Christine decided that she no longer wants to have a career in a fashion magazine. She feels that it does not glorify God—something she would not have known had she not done her internship at Glamour. She does hope that in some way seeds were planted and she left a thumbprint of what it means to be faithful to her beliefs.
Read how Christine's education helped prepare her for Glamour!
By: Lavern Ramdatt