For mtl summer intern Mary Schrott, stories aren’t merely found in children’s bedtime tales or at the library. They surround us—captured within every person, place, and thing. It’s just a matter of uncovering them.
[1]“As a journalist, you go investigate and then share what you find,” says Schrott. “You can be very personal with this type of writing, and that human aspect is what I love.”
Schrott has always liked journalism. A lifelong Mt. Lebanon resident, she was editor-in-chief of Mt. Lebanon High School’s newspaper The Devil’s Advocate. Currently double majoring in journalism and professional writing at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, Schrott writes for The Miami Student newspaper and the campus fashion magazine, Up.
“I love knowledge and absorbing information,” says Schrott. Teachers and professors had her writing every week, which often meant conducting interviews every other day. The assignments allowed her to grow as a reporter, helping her discover people’s hidden stories.
During the summer, Schrott loves joining her parents and sisters for summer vacations—hikes in Maine or this summer’s trip to Savannah. Family dogs Misha and Oliver especially love family walking adventures.
When not typing on her pink laptop, you can find Schrott taking a hot yoga class or catching the latest E! News. “I’m a sucker for cheesy television,” she says, listing The Bachelor as one of her latest indulgences.
Dreams of writing for magazines led to her internship with mtl. “I’ve had the magazine on my coffee table for years,” she says. “Now I get to experience the other side of the publication that has always been a part of my family. This is a chance to both enhance me as a writer and benefit my community.” —Jessica Walker
[2]Jessica Walker has the kind of smile that travels from the corners of her mouth to the crinkles around her eyes, radiating sweetness and sincerity.
While her smile is paired with a soft voice, this mtl summer intern is no one to mess with, especially when it comes to the power she seeks to wield through writing. Her favorite piece of her own writing is a fictional horror story, written in class at Seton Hill University, about an angel selling her soul to the devil.
Walker, a rising junior studying English and creative writing, hopes eventually to land a job in the book publishing industry. “I think studying how books are published and seeing a book through its development would be very interesting,” says Walker, who lives in Bethel Park and attended St. Bernard Elementary School.
One of Jessica’s ultimate writing goals is to produce a children’s book—giving back to the next generation a fantastical escape like J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series gave her while growing up. Though Jessica spent much time in this wizarding world as a kid, she first realized her passion for creative writing in middle school through the pages of the adult fantasy novel Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.
“I loved Inkheart because it talked about the power of books, while at the same time being fantasy. It showed me that writing can be very creative and you can take certain liberties when you write.”
—Mary Schrott