The 2007 Honolulu Advertiser intern class graduated last week, and it was one of our best ever.

Our internship committee, headed by copy editor Shauna Goya, received about 100 applications from students from Hawai'i and the Mainland and sorted through them in January, winnowing the field to the most promising 15 or so.

Committee members — all volunteers — spent hours considering the applicants' diversity, areas of interest, letters of recommendation and clips from student or other publications before interviewing each semifinalist. Top editors joined the process and went through the list again before joining in the discussion. This year, we placed special emphasis on online and multimedia skills, since we have more needs in those areas.

Once the interns were selected, they were matched with mentors and went through various workshops with top editors to learn more about the newsroom.

This year, the committee chose seven talented journalists-in-the-making to report and edit stories, post online reports, shoot video and contribute to our community sites.

They were all enthusiastic, curious and intelligent, adding great energy to the newsroom and helping their colleagues.

Diane Lee, who spent three years at Kapi'olani Community College before transferring to Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., enjoyed exploring O'ahu (even getting lost on assignment) and meeting daily deadlines, even if it meant eating meals at her desk.

"I put aside my ego and learned to ask questions if I had any," said Lee, who was born and raised in Hawai'i. "But what struck me about working at The Advertiser was that everyone offered their support and help when I needed it the most."

Some of the interns said they were pleased to be treated as full-time professionals and not sent to fetch faxes and coffee. Tiffany Hill said she realized on her second day of work, the day after her 21st birthday, that she knew she was an equal in the newsroom.

"I was treated like a fellow reporter, not a lowly intern still in school," said Hill, a junior at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. "Working at The Advertiser has further affirmed my passion to become a reporter. Overall, my experience has been one of a lifetime and I am excited to graduate school and become a full-time journalist."

Intern committee members brought back Celia Downes for a third time and the Marquette University journalism graduate didn't disappoint us.

"Possibly the best part of the internship was becoming a valued member of the copy desk right from the start — I was honored that my editors felt confident enough in my abilities to have me jump right in," Downes said. "It has reaffirmed my love of journalism and my desire to pursue a career in the industry."

Kuulei Funn, who has earned a bachelor's degree at Hawai'i Pacific University and is now going after her master's degree in communications at HPU, found the work challenging and gratifying.

"It was exciting to work in the fast-paced environment of a daily newspaper," Funn said. "The televisions, radios and constant tapping of keyboards fill the newsroom as daily assignments pass through a route of editors and designers. The most rewarding experience throughout the summer was seeing my work published the next day. It served as a reminder that hard work does pay off in the end."

Primarily because of her multimedia experience, Alyssa Navares, a journalism major at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, made the intern team this year. She was the first intern to shoot video, going 450 feet underground on a rail car at Red Hill that had been kept secret during wartime.

"How amazing is that?" she said. "This was a chance of a lifetime for us since no civilians are allowed into the railway. I'll never forget the musty smell and creaky train that chugged along miles of fuel pipes that reached Pearl Harbor."

Kim Fassler impressed us with her thoughtfulness and ability to handle everything thrown at her. A former Imua Iolani editor in chief who graduated last year from Williams College in Williamston, Mass., Fassler enjoyed her first daily newspaper experience so much that she called her friends excitedly after seeing her first byline.

But she has a bigger mission in mind.

"One of my personal goals is to see more young people in Hawai'i become aware of the big issues we face as an island state," she said. "It's a big challenge, because people my age are generally absorbed with other things besides reading the newspaper. But I think that could change with the move to put more news online. I'm very glad that this summer I had the opportunity to be part of an organization that can help accomplish that goal."

One of the interns, Christina Failma of Hawai'i Pacific University, did such a great job that we offered her a part-time position as an assistant multimedia technician. She started her new job even before her internship ended.

"This summer, meeting everyone in the newsroom has been a blessing," she said. "Everyone in here has their own opinions about the world and the future of the news business. In the end, that has helped me to figure out my own. I am extremely lucky to be part of an extraordinary team and I look forward to working here."