Blog #10, November 18, 2015
Q: Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or why not? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted with your expectations? What is the most important learning you did during your internship?
I just had my exist interview, and there is so much sadness right now! Anyways, I digress. Where do I even start? Lighthouse has been such an amazing experience for me. I feel like I’ve learned so much about writing and how to be a good author since I started at Lighthouse in September, and that I have improved my own writing as well.
My internship was different than I expected it to be, but I still enjoyed my time at Lighthouse. I was under the impression that I would be writing every day and helping to write things for Lighthouse’s website/social media, but that wasn’t really the case. I spent more time being a general intern doing office work, which is to be expected at an internship. I didn’t mind doing “intern work,” but it would have been nice to do more important work. Also, I didn’t meet any publishers or editors like I thought I did, but I met so many authors and fellow writers who were amazing to work with. I enjoyed talking with them (sometimes commiserating with them), and everyone that I met was very welcoming and attentive to my writing and opinions.
During my time at Lighthouse, the most important learning I did was when I took the Young Adult/ Middle Grade workshop that my sponsors put me in. During that time, I learned about my strengths as a writer, examples of what good writing looks like, and how to discuss my writing without feeling awkward or nervous. The instructor and fellow attendees gave me useful and constructive feedback, which gave me the motivation to improve my writing.
While I’m sad to be leaving Lighthouse, I know that there will always be a place for me there. I am very grateful to be a part of this program, and am looking forward to other opportunities ahead.
Blog #9, November 9, 2015
Q: 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?
My internship sponsor, Dan, told me the story of how he got his position at Lighthouse one day when we were setting up for an event. He talked about how he pitched an idea for a brand new job to the board, and after a year of volunteering, they found the money to give him the position. The way that Dan talked about getting his job and the excitement and relief that filled him when he found out his pitch had been accepted was really inspiring to hear. This makes me feel like I can do whatever I want to, no matter what the restrictions are.
Throughout my internship, I have grown to believe in my writing abilities more and more. After taking three weeks of a Young Adult/ Middle Grade workshop with accomplished writers, getting the positive feedback and encouragement from the instructor has been very beneficial. While writer’s block is ever-present, these classes help to fuel my motivation and to generate more ideas. I don’t know if I want to put as much of a focus on my writing as I wanted to before, but that isn’t due to my internship. I have decided to pursue other focuses as well based on my interests, but I still want to become a published author.
My internship has allowed me to gain even more experience with writing, and I am very grateful for that opportunity. While writing is rarely an easy feat, I feel confident in my abilities and know that every writer has to begin somewhere.
Blog #8, November 4, 2015-
Q: What is the difference between working on personal art projects and working in a creative business? What have you learned about working in a creative business?
There is a huge difference between working on Lighthouse projects and my personal projects. While the differences are mostly good, there are some drawbacks to both.
The projects at Lighthouse are all rather immediate, or at least that’s how it feels to me. When I am given something, it is most likely a project that needs to be done on a deadline and people are depending on me to get it done. Also, the projects I’m working on at Lighthouse affect way more people than just myself. For example, a few weeks ago I was given the task of stuffing envelopes for an upcoming event. If these weren’t done on time or weren’t sent to certain people, the event would not be successful and people who are interested may not have accurate (or any) information. The projects at Lighthouse also tend to be things that I can do without many obstacles. Most everything is rather straightforward, while my personal projects might not be.
My personal projects are on my own time and deadlines, which can be both good and bad for me. This alleviates some stress about needing to get things done, but can also lead to procrastination and writer’s block from a lack of deadlines. These deadlines aren’t as high-stake as Lighthouse deadlines and events, and they only really affect me if they don’t get done.
In the time that I’ve been at Lighthouse, I’ve realized just how much work goes into running a creative non-profit business. There’s only one person for each job, whereas a large company may have several, so everyone is constantly working hard to get things done. Also, everyone at Lighthouse works very hard to get the name out there to people around Denver. Lighthouse is fairly well-known, but we sometimes have to do more promoting than a bigger company might. It’s been very interesting to be in a creative space like Lighthouse, and I hope to keep coming there in some form after my hours are completed.
Blog #7, October 28, 2015-
Q: How do people at work treat you? How does it make you feel? If you have an intern one day will you treat them the same?
The people at Lighthouse Writers Workshop are some of the kindest people I’ve ever met. My coworkers are all incredibly kindhearted and utterly nice people, and I am very lucky to be in the environment that I am. (Andrea, one of the founders, has a special place in my heart for calling me a goddess when I stuffed envelopes a few weeks ago) It makes me feel more valued as an intern and I am willing to do even the most mundane of tasks when they are asking me kindly.
The people who come into Lighthouse as guest teachers, workshop attendees, and/or fellow writers are all extremely warm and welcoming as well. Genna and Laura are having me participate in a workshop for writing Young Adult and Middle Grade novels, and everyone involved with the class is so nice. The instructor, Victoria, gives very constructive feedback, and is very welcoming to everyone in the class. I’m significantly younger and not as experienced as everyone else in the workshop, but they treat me as an equal, making me feel very welcomed and grateful.
If I ever have an intern, I only hope that I can be even half as welcoming as everyone has been during my time so far at Lighthouse. I am very lucky to be in an environment with such lovely people, and hope I can one day provide a younger staff member with the same experience. I couldn’t ask to have kinder coworkers and writers to interact with, and am grateful for their warmth and compassion.
Blog #6, October 22, 2015-
Q: How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project go with your sponsor? 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? Are there any challenges you are experiencing planning or doing your project?
I decided to take on the task of doing not one, but two internship projects during my time at Lighthouse. The first, a long-term and ongoing project, is to write a decent amount of a novel on the website Wattpad.com. I have thus far written the prologue and first chapter, but am making more progress. My coworkers signed me up for a Young Adult and Middle Genre workshop at Lighthouse, where I learn about the craft and my writing is workshopped as well. Dan was excited and for this project, as he is a published author, and he (and other coworkers/sponsors) will be reading it and giving me feedback as well. We agreed to meet again soon, where he can give me some advice as to how to keep going with the plot. This is a great project for me, since I am getting to workshop my writing during my time at the internship. The biggest challenge for this project has been a dreadful one- writer’s block. The horror! I know where I want the story to end up, but don’t know how to get there. Hopefully, after this workshop and talking more with Dan, I’ll have more of an idea on how to keep going.
My second project, which I’m very excited about, is going to be an eventual hour-long workshop where I will be teaching my little brother’s kindergarten class how to do creative story writing. This project is immensely daunting and vague to me at the moment, but I can’t wait to do it. So far, I’ve been planning the project and making a lesson plan, but am at a stand still. Until we can set a date, I don’t really have a deadline. Once I have a time frame, I will meet with Lighthouse’s Young Writers Program Director (Kim) , and she will help me to get other teens to help volunteer for the class and to help me create a lesson plan. Dan was initially somewhat skeptical about how the class would work, but was excited when I told him that Kim wanted me to teach the class myself. Genna, who has worked with kids before, gave me some good tips on how to start doing stories, as did one of the teachers for a young writer’s class at Lighthouse. This workshop is dear to me simply because of my brother. He’s a funny, smart, creative kid, and I want to help him create wonderful stories.
I’m very excited for my projects, and can’t wait to see how they end up!
Blog #5, October 13, 2015-
Q: How do you feel like your internship is going so far? Are you forming good relationships with your coworkers? What can you do to improve your experience?
My internship at Lighthouse is going very well. It is more amazing than I could have imagined, and I only wish I had more time in the week to go there! Being at Lighthouse is a pretty surreal experience for me, since I am working with published authors, poets, and essayists. These connections could really help me in the future for getting myself published or finding a career! I am always very proud when I tell people about being an intern, especially at a recognized establishment like Lighthouse. Today we had a college fair, and schools find internships to be really impressive! While my internship is helping to prepare me for life after high school and my (hopefully) eventual career in the arts, being at Lighthouse has helped me to figure out what I want in life and how to achieve it.
All of my coworkers are some of the greatest people that I’ve ever met. Laura, Genna, and Dan are all such wonderfully kind, fun people, and they’re all passionate about their jobs and their writing. The three of us are all “friends” on social media, and it’s fun for me to know more about them outside of their jobs. Dan is an awesome sponsor and is very relaxed about my schedule at Lighthouse and ability to help out. His story of how he got his job is inspiring, and it shows how dedication can get you far in the arts. I don’t know how I could improve my relationships with my coworkers. I know little about Laura and Genna, so I hope to get to know them more and to find out more about how they (and Dan) write.
Blog #4, October 7, 2015-
Q: What are you responsible for at your work place? What do you think is your main contribution to your work site?
As an intern, it’s very easy to assume that the work you are doing is, indeed, “intern work.” Lots of the things that I am responsible for at Lighthouse are things that constantly need doing, like stapling catalogs of the fall workshops, maintaining the bathrooms and classrooms, and stuffing folders for events. I also maintain the Little Free Library out front and make sure that it’s stocked full of books, and I post pictures on the company’s Instagram as well. These things, while they may not seem like the most fun tasks, are ones that need to get done in order for Lighthouse to function, and it saves my coworkers valuable time to accomplish their own tasks.
Currently, I am responsible for my internship- inspired project, which can sometimes seem to be a daunting task. I am accomplishing two projects, one of which is still in the works. That project will (if it is okay-ed) be an event, and it’s my job to contact those involved. For my current project, I am writing on Wattpad.com, where my coworkers will be able to see my writing and give me feedback on it. It’s important that I write and get my project done, since I have a unique voice and need to share my stories.
At Lighthouse, my main contribution is that I accomplish all of my tasks in a thorough, timely manner, and that I bring positive energy with it. I’m the youngest person at Lighthouse, so I think that I contribute an interesting energy and provide thoughtful ideas and opinions. I really love being at Lighthouse and hope that I am giving them even a fraction of what they have continued to give me.
Blog #3, October 2, 2015-
Q: How do your actions affect your workplace? Do you contribute positively? How do your co-workers’ actions affect your internship?
At Lighthouse, there’s a very strong sense of calmness and productivity. The minute I walk in, I am hit with a sense of peace and quiet, and try not to upset that balance. Being an intern, there are obviously going to be some tasks that I don’t care for. Is it my favorite thing in the world to fold and staple tons of programs? No, but I know that if I didn’t do it, someone else would have to. If I was belligerent and didn’t do work in a productive manner, I feel like the workplace would be much more difficult to be in and uncomfortable for my coworkers.
I feel like I contribute positively to Lighthouse. I try to get done as much as I can each day in order to help prepare for events, which is appreciated by my coworkers. Every time I see Mike and Andrea, the founders of Lighthouse, they always thank me for being here and tell me that they’re happy to have me here. I think that this kindness, which is shared by all of my coworkers, definitely creates a much more comfortable feeling for me to work in. Even when I feel like I’m not being helpful or that I could be doing more, they never cease from expressing that they are thankful for the help I provide. Genna and Laura, who I spend the most time with, often work in silence, but we still have fun conversations. Today we finished building a desk for another coworker, and while we didn’t communicate much, it was still a fun experience. Overall, I really like my coworkers and I am still very happy to be here!
Blog #2, September 25, 2015-
Q: What was the best thing that happened this week at your internship? How did it make you feel?
Today I worked my first Lighthouse Event, Friday 500. It has been the highlight of my internship, no doubt about it. Friday 500 is a bi-monthly event for Lighthouse members, where everyone comes in and writes for an hour, then discusses writing for the second hour. The goal is to write 500 words on whatever project you desire, and some members choose to write the entire time. I helped Genna, one of my sponsors, set up for the event, and was pleasantly surprised when she told me to participate and write for an hour. I began work on my internship- inspired project, and was really happy to finally get back into it. Getting to write for an hour without interruption was a wonderful way to end my week, especially in an environment like Lighthouse.
After the first hour, everyone went downstairs to Lighthouse’s performance space, where Genna lead a discussion on writing to an audience. The members discussed whether or not it is better to write with an audience in mind or to figure it out along the way, and we did several writing exercises to test this out. Afterwards, I talked with Genna and really enjoyed that. My coworkers make me feel very at home when I’m there, and I’m very grateful for that. Before I left, I also got to feed the cat that visits Lighthouse, Shirley. Shirley is scared of people and hid, but was grateful for the food.
I had yet another wonderful week at Lighthouse, and I’m restless to go back next week. I can’t wait to return to the house, and to keep writing!
Blog #1, September 17, 2015-
Q: What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you? Who did you meet and what do they do? Did you engage in any code switching?
My first week at Lighthouse Writers Workshop has been a very positive experience for me. While I have mostly been doing office maintenance work, I find it to be relaxing and enjoyable, and I am happy to help where/whenever I can. This has included filing invoices, folding and stapling catalogs, and shelving/alphabetizing literary magazines. The thing that surprised me most about this week has been that the house is constantly filled with workshops. Most of the rooms at Lighthouse are utilized as classroom spaces, and there have been at least four classes going on during the two days I have been there. Due to this, the house is very quiet, and my sponsors often work in silence.
I believe that I have now met all of my coworkers, and I have enjoyed meeting all of them. I have met the women in marketing and program coordination (two of my sponsors), the accountant, and several other employees as well as the founders of Lighthouse. All of my interactions with them have been very positive, and they are full of positive feedback for me. I didn’t really code switch around them. The environment there is very casual and comforting, and I don’t have to switch personas in order to be around them.
Overall, I had a very productive and positive week, and am excited to return next Wednesday.