This summer, four interns funded by the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation joined The Economist to write about finance and economics. Shailesh Chitnis (India), Matina Stevis (Greece) and Sahil Mahtani (Indonesia) worked in the London office. Thomas Høy Davidsen (Denmark) joined the Tokyo office.

Looking back, two of the interns reflect on the paths that brought them to the internship, and what they took from the experience.

Matina Stevis
I was born and raised in Athens, Greece, where I returned to work after completing a BA in Modern History and Politics at Oxford. In 2009 I decided that I´d spent too much time outside Britain and returned to do a two-year MPA in Public Policy at the London School of Economics.

The first of the two years presented me with excellent professional opportunities in London: as my native country was teetering on the edge of fiscal abyss, I was doing interviews for British and international television networks as a Greece expert. Most importantly, though, I got the chance to work at The Economist as a Marjorie Deane intern.

The experience was excellent: I spent three months among some of the brightest people I have met, learned a lot about a lot, published articles in the paper and online, researched topics I never thought I´d be interested in and saw from the inside how one of the most important publications in the world is produced. The internship has left me not only better-educated and more professional but also more inspired and dedicated to this line of business.

Sahil Mahtani
I was looking through my application for the Marjorie Deane internship, and apparently I described The Economist as Guy de Rothschild described his bank—as “gently prolonging the nineteenth century.” It is the paper´s great virtue, even if the baron intended more to jab than to flatter. Writing for it has been the peak of my (admittedly short) journalistic career.

I had a few earlier stints in the profession, but nothing approached the intellectual breadth and curiosity of this one. I am grateful to the Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation for giving me a chance to write for The Economist. Plenty of interesting people came my way, including a Nobel laureate and a few scruffy billionaires. A glorious London summer did not hurt.

As I write, it is still financial journalism´s day. Public appetite is high for clearly-reasoned pieces with ethical sensitivity, and is unlikely to abate. Writing from this perch has been fantastic and I am sure it will only get more interesting in the coming years.