Once you are done writing your blog: If you have a challenge that you are struggling to work out at your internship, email or text the program director immediately so you can receive help as soon as possible.
Blog Question #1- What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you or make you excited? Were there any challenges? Did you make any connections with co-workers? Did you engage in any code switching?
After my first week at my internship, I learned the importance of being a team player. How everyone plays an important role to create a full production. How everyone has many tasks to contribute to everything. Their own work and others. Each and everyone is on a constant moving and constant changing obstacle course. So it’s so crucial that everyone can regroup, reassess and contribute.
What strikes me as surprising was the large amount of acting in front of a camera that goes on. What is challenging about the internship is wanting to make sure that the tasks that I’m assigned is perfect and to the best of my ability because how my tasks are carried out and how they look will affect those working there or affect how it looks for the audience and actors. So the thought of that is what can be challenging.
I did feel like I made connections with my co-workers because I had a lot of introductions meeting everyone. Everyone always seems every enthusiastic when working and doing what they are doing. I got to talk to a couple of people about my school life and my past experience with set design, technical theatre and acting. I did experience some level of code switching just to talk professionally with co-workers and new people I was being introduced to.
Blog 2: Networking
Begin by interviewing 2-3 of your coworkers with the following 3 questions (about 10 minutes of their time). Time allowing: feel free to ask them more questions to get to know them better. Following the interviews answer the questions below for Blog 2.
Interview questions:
- Did you study art after high school? Art or traditional college? Internship or apprenticeship?
- How did you get your first job in the creative industries?
- If you were in an intern in this field, where would you focus your learning during your internship? What is the most important learning one can do when beginning a career in this profession?
- (Time allowing) Is there anything interesting about you that is non-work related that you would like to tell me about? Hobbies or interests?
Blog Question # 2: What co-workers did you interview? Did your co-workers study art after high school either through higher education or internships/apprenticeships? What recommendations did they have for what you should try to learn as an intern in this field? Did they have any advice on how to begin your creative career? Did you learn anything interesting about your co-workers that was non-work related?
I interviewed Stewart Barr who I mentor under for the first quarter of my internship.
- Did you study art after high school? Art or traditional college? Internship or apprenticeship?
- Mr. Barr did study art after high school. He wasn’t involved in any internships instead he did work studies during college such as running lights and sound, set design, all aspects of technical theatre. In college he took classes such as theatre history classes but there were no college acting classes available to take. There was also never a degree in technical theatre only a bachelor in theatre. Degrees varies a lot on the college you attend and the degree you are after.
- How did you get your first job in the creative industries?
- Mr. Barr got his creative job while he was in college when industries would contact colleges looking for students who want to work.
- If you were in an intern in this field, where would you focus your learning during your internship? What is the most important learning one can do when beginning a career in this profession?
- If he was in this internship field as I am right now he would focus his learning on figuring out what you’re really interested in and finding someone who does that job. He suggests that or to work for a small theatre company where everyone does many jobs. You get to do it all vs. getting stuck in one department.
- The most important learning takeaway when beginning a career in this profession is how to play well with others, communication is really strong and important to have and its important to be able to work with all personality types.
- Is there any college classes that helped you the most to get you to where you are today?
- For Mr. Barr there were no college courses that helped him the most however welding classes in graduate school helped him more to be a technical director. He worked worked as an actor for 4 years out of college. Everything he’s learned hasn’t been from working in an actual theatre.
I also interviewed Mrs. Sumner who I mentor under for the second quarter of my internship.
- Did you study art after high school? Art or traditional college? Internship or apprenticeship?
- Mrs. Sumner did study art after high school. She got her bachelors in science of dance and art administration and is no working on getting her masters in administration.
- How did you get your first job in the creative industries?
- She get her first job in the creative industries from knowing the right people, through internships and through connections.
- If you were in an intern in this field, where would you focus your learning during your internship? What is the most important learning one can do when beginning a career in this profession?
- If she was in this internship field as I am now her plan would be to learn as much as possible in as many different areas to find what it is that interests you the most in. There’s so many different routes.
- The most important learning one can do when beginning a career in the profession is to learn from others and how important it is to remain passionate about the route you choose to be able to do your best work.
- Is there any college classes that helped you the most to get you to where you are today?
- College classes that really helped Mrs. Sumner to get where she is today was her degree in arts administration. She says that it helps a lot with event planning, getting into internships, font writing, all the important things that really help in this world.
Blog Question #3 How do your actions affect your workplace? Are you able to be mindful and bring a good attitude when you come to your internship? Do you contribute positively?Do you feel like you have a good work ethic so far?
How do your co-workers actions affect your internship? Are you beginning to develop any work place friendships?
While working at the Denver Center for the Preforming arts my actions are to solely to lighten the work load of Mr. Barr currently and his coworkers who he creates, builds helps out with what they need for their classes or their plays. My actions help out so that they have less tasks to take care of and can focus on other things. I also help carry and put together flats, green screens, props etc. with Mr. Barr. Im an extra set of hands.
I am always have an open mind about whatever tasks I’m given I never complain or say that isn’t what I wanna do when I’m given a task I’m here to help them out. I believe that this shows my work ethic that I’m happy to help out with whatever I can. I always have a positive attitude and always asking questions and having good conversations.
My co-workers actions affect my internship by what task he has for us to complete and what sort of things I will be working on or if I will be learning something new. I feel that I am beginning to develop friendships at my workplace which simply isn’t hard to do. Everyone there is always so nice to me to everyone its a very comfortable and friendly environment to be in so making friendships are practically a given.
Blog Question #4: Freestyle blog week. Write your own blog prompt about your internship, then answer it in 200-250 words
Blog Question #5 How do you feel like your internship is going so far? What are the highlights? What are the challenges? Do you feel like you are making connections with your co-workers? Are you using your internship inspired project as a creative connection between you and your supervisor? What can you do to improve your experience?
Blog Question #6 End of the quarter check- in. OK to do 150 words this week. Please do an inventory of your hours completed up until now and make sure your electronic time card is updated coming into the end of the quarter. How are you doing so far on completing your hours? Do you have the amount of hours complete that you should have at this point in the internship? If you are behind on your hours, what is your plan to make up the hours you are missing? How are you doing with the challenge of maintaining your intern work schedule? Are you using your google calendar to keep track of your intern schedule and homework assignments? Is there any other challenge you feel the Internship Program Director should be aware of at the end of the first half of your internship?
Blog Question #7: What is your favorite part of working on personal art projects? What challenges do you face on personal art projects? What have you learned about working in a creative business? What is your favorite part of working in a creative business? What is the difference between working on personal art and working in a creative business? *(Please read below now in preparation for Blog 8)
No Blog Next Week- you will need to use the week to work on your Internship Inspired Project in preparation for blog 8. You cannot write blog 8 if you have not talked to your supervisor about your internship project. Make talking to your supervisor about the project #1 priority if that hasn’t happened.
Blog Question #8 :
How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project go with your sponsor? (If you haven’t discussed the project with your sponsor yet, how do you plan to do so?) Did they have good insights into how to improve or expand the project? How does your project bridge what you do at your internship and what you like to create for yourself? Has your relationship with your sponsor evolved as you have engaged in a creative dialogue about your project? Art there any challenges you are experiencing planning or doing your project?
Blog Question #9 What have you seen or experienced in your internship that has inspired you the most on your own artistic journey? Has this experience changed your artistic ambitions? How? Have you used this experience to diversify your skill set? What skills have you added?
Blog Question #10 : Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or Why not (keep it positive, if you had negative experiences, focus on what you learned- make yourself look good!)? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted with your expectations? What is the most important learning you did during your internship?