Helga Golly, ADP Intern

Catch the new summer drama/comedy/documentary/reality/ miniseries, coming soon to a second-floor cubicle near you. This concept has been developing in the creative, possibly overactive imagination of a third-floor production editor for months, no, make that years, and it looks like it's real.

The facts: My daughter learned through reliable sources that the art, design, and production department of a major educational publisher had openings for summer interns. She sent a resume, completed the online application, and waited for human resources to do what they do. Meanwhile, back at Northeast Swingstate University, she went to classes, wrote papers, took tests, made ceramic bowls and Rohrschack test presentations. She turned 22 a week ago.

A manager in the photo department called her, and their preliminary conversation went well. They talked about how she would divide her time between photo research and production in order to learn about the whole operation. She took her French final, her early modern final, and her philosophy of art final. The director of art and photo did a second phone interview, which also went well, and recommended Helga for an internship. She took her existentialism final, imagining a conversation between Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. She moved out of the dorm and home to Methodistville for the summer.

She waited to hear something.

Today mister whitewater photo guru officially offered the internship, and she's scheduled to start work next Wednesday. One small step for a young woman on the verge of completing her undergraduate education, a giant leap in the bildungsroman of her growing up the daughter of an editor and an artist. It will be interesting, as Helga learns the ropes of the publishing business and the company culture, whether she takes to it like a duck to water or whether it's a rough transition from school to work. Let the real testing begin.