This past spring semester at Penn State University I was given a gateway into what I have dreamed of doing since high school, being a food critic. Lionmenus.com is a Penn State-Alumni created website that allows students at the university to order delivery and take out online. Lionmenus also offers full menus of all dine in restaurants in the State College area, but until now had no service that gave opinions or reviews for dine- in or take- out restaurants.
So in January 2010 I was sent a mass e-mail with an opportunity to land one of the most appealing internships ever for grubcritic.com. Being a former culinary arts student and journalism major, I immediately applied for the position and sat awake for a few nights hoping that I would hear back from them. Luckily for me I did hear back from them and got some sleep. So I interviewed with the creator of the site and within a few hours I was an official State College Food Specialist.
The only thing that could make this internship better would be getting paid to do it. Grub Critic will provide me or one of the seven other inaugural interns of the site with some money if a restaurant wants a review, but we usually pay for our own meals. Aside from this, I love everything about my internship; I get to go out with my friends, sample the fine and sometimes not-so-fine dining of State College, and gain great online writing experience at the same time.
People also respect your opinion a little more when you tell them you are a food critic. Along with this, they are also more likely to read your work online when you tell them about the website you write for. It's really nice to spread the word and then get feedback from replies on the website; it's very personal and makes you look good at the same time. If you are at a campus with its own online ordering site, you might want to check out their internship and career opportunities for this fantastic opportunity.