it's fun at seventeen!

Margot Davies, 17, is in grade 11 at Camps Bay High School. Her fave TV show is 90210 and she's passionate about writing, scrapbooking, poetry, movies, her friends, family and life!

Tuesday 22 June 09
So the day I’d anticipated for months had finally arrived – the day I began my internship at seventeen! My hair was co-operating, my lunch was packed and I prayed my shoes wouldn’t be the death of me. I was filled with nervous excitement and couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I arrived in the middle of one almighty downpour but luckily avoided getting soaked. Immediately I was shown to my very own office station complete with a "swivel chair" and an Apple Mac! Not going to lie though, it takes some getting used to compared to my trusty XP. I got to sit in on a features meeting for the September issue – the team were throwing around ideas and discussing details. Once the meeting finished, I was given the July issue to look at. As I began flicking through the pages, I became caught up in “dance fever” and couldn’t help envisioning my dream dress. The July issue is on sale 1 July!! Next, I had a personal lesson with Lisa (the digital editor) on how the cover girl wallpapers are set up. Check out www.seventeen.co.za to see more of what the digi team get up to every day.

Wednesday 23 June 09
Thankfully, the rain had subsided and I arrived warm and dry. My first task this morning was to create labels for the seventeen library. Khwezi, Lisa and Liza went to the Spring/Summer 2009 MAC launch. While they were out, I finished the labels and stuck them up, then I helped Ashleigh (the designer) make photocopies for job bags. In a moment of absentmindedness, I placed the magazines and finished photocopies on top of the machine, not realising that when I lifted the lid to make another photocopy, it would all go crashing down onto the people sitting downstairs! They reassured me that this happens “all the time”. After a quick lunch, I finished filing the seventeen library into order. Lisa (digi ed) then tasked me with writing two gossip stories for www.seventeen.co.za and I helped Pam (sub editor) to rearrange The Board – this is where they stick up mini versions of the magazine’s layout that they’re currently working on. It reminded me of a jigsaw puzzle!

Wow - this library has a lot of mags!

The Board!

Thursday 24 June 09
My first task today was to get a love quote for the one Guys story in the August issue – I called up one of my best friends, Alicia, to help me out and thankfully she could. Once I settled that, I moved onto updating the celebrity list, which is seventeen’s list of all the “it” celebs that us teenagers are interested in. Since the “Oh Boy!” section of www.seventeen.co.za went live today, I checked that out, too. Very cool! After lunch I set out with Liza (managing ed) on a boy hunt for the Guys Talk page in the August issue. We hit Long Street and after gallivanting around for an hour had managed to track down seven guys. Back at the office I set to work compiling the answers. You’ll have to wait for the August issue to find out what we asked them – it’s on sale on 29 July! I must say, I was very surprised with their answers and I’m sure you will be, too.

All the seventeen covers

Friday 25 June 09
Today I carried on with updating the celebrity list. It took me most of the day and in between that I had to fill out the intern questionnaire which helps the seventeen team know a bit more about us. Next thing I knew it was home time – my internship was over. How did that happen?! The days flew by so quickly. I had so much fun that it honestly didn’t feel like work. I met so many amazing people and learned so many great things about life, the world of print media and myself. I bid goodbye to everyone on the seventeen team, packed up my workspace and had one last swirl in my swivel chair. All this made for a truly unforgettable experience that I’ll be telling my grandkids about one day.

Me and Khwezi