Ethan Cahoon: Thank you, Neuse News
by Ethan Cahoon
Sports car lover. Future politician. Philly Cheesesteak addict.
In January, I walked into 105 West Blount St. to meet with Mr. B.J. Murphy about an internship idea he had. One of the most monumental ideas I took away from this meeting was bringing coffee automatically makes the meeting 10 times better.
We concluded the meeting with him telling me to think about it and that he would also. In April, I received an e-mail that I had been selected as an intern and I needed to respond as to whether I would accept the invitation or not.
At first, I had full intentions of declining because I knew I would have so many other things going on this summer and didn’t think I would have time to dedicate to another task. However, I thought hard on how this internship could help me out with my business, Adoptees Apparel, as well as life, in general.
I also knew it would give me an opportunity to get to know people in my community a little better. After second thoughts, I accepted the offer and officially became an intern.
I thought hard on how to format this column because I have had so many experiences. Instead of just listing personal experiences, I'm going to focus on the friendships I made with these interns.
I’ll start with Alita White.
My first assignment was with Ali and basically, I followed her around like a shadow because our leader felt more comfortable with girls not walking around by themselves at the BBQ Fest. We took videoof just about everything there and interviewed lots of people.
Ali inspires me because I thought I had a lot of stuff to do, but then I saw all the tasks she juggles. She often put several professional videos together during the week for Neuse News while also keeping her own videography business alive.
I was friends/frenemies with Gracie Herring before the internship began. We disagree a lot when it comes to politics and for awhile, it prevented us from being friends. I take partial blame for that because for a time, my mindset was that everyone I was friends with had to agree with me.
Thankfully, being great friends with Gracie has shown me we can disagree sometimes and laugh ourselves to death at other times.
Parker Mitchell and I were friends before the internship because of the rivalry between South Lenoir and North Lenoir and our involvement in our schools. We had a chance to become even better friends through the internship.
From ending up at some boat ramp in Jones County, randomly driving to Onslow County, me beating him in tennis, and so many more memories, we had a lot of good times together throughout the past three months.
Norma-Jean Miller was the self-proclaimed “outcast” because she is from Beulaville and we are all from Lenoir County. However, she quickly became friends with all of us and it didn’t take long for me to see how cool she was.
When we did our first video, we took advantage of her name being Norma-Jean. When she left the set, we played “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John and played the part where he says “Goodbye Norma Jean”. This was one of many times that “Goodbye Norma Jean” was played. Every time I rode in her Camaro, I tried to get her to trade for my truck, but it didn’t work.
The next person isn’t an intern, but he’s the reason we were interns. B.J. Murphy, or as I called him, Brittany Jolene, was the mastermind behind there being an internship program. There are not enough good things to say about Mr. B.J. From his motivational tips/whiteboard notes, his jokes, his tolerance of our goofy personalities and his willingness to learn teenage words, he is a great example of what a true leader and mentor looks like.
I can’t forget Aleatha Thrower. She is like a ball of sunshine in the office and keeps everyone, including Mr. B.J., straight. I also had fun hanging out with Brandon, Junious, Chris, Travis, Catherine and everyone else on the Neuse News team. I wish I could expand on all of the memories I made with these guys.
All of these people will always have a place in my memory as the best summer. From millions of GIFs in the group chat to lots of coffee trips, jokes, hugs, laughs, new learning experiences, Bojangle’s trips, Trex’s, pictures, and so many other things, I have had so much fun and learned so much being a 2019 summer Neuse News intern.
It’s amazing how three months can impact a whole lifetime. I can definitely say it did in this case because I have gained knowledge, made so many memories, and learned so many lessons since May.
A popular phrase you’ll hear in the studio is “Alexa, play”. With all of this being said, “Alexa, play ‘You’ve got a friend in me.’”
Thank you Neuse News and Magic Mile Media for making the summer of 2019 the best .
