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Internship most rewarding [UPDATED]
Published 6:56am Thursday, August 2, 2012 Updated 11:56am Thursday, August 2, 2012Already the time has come for me to bid farewell to Fergus Falls as my summer internship comes to an end at A Center for the Arts.
The center and the community of Fergus Falls have been so welcoming during my stay and have offered me so many rewarding opportunities that I’m sure never to forget.
Seeing as this will be my last article for the arts column, I thought I would give a little insight into the life of a summer intern.
Often times internships are characterized as being a series of remedial mundane tasks that often include fetching coffee, lunch, and taking copious notes as a supervisor dictates his visions and to-do lists. This may be true in some cases (as I have heard from some fellow summer arts interns across the country). However, this description is far from my experiences at my past four internships.
Before I arrived at A Center for the Arts, I had already been prepped by three previous internships for what to possibly expect. Although no two internships are alike, having multiple experiences helps one to expect the least expected, roll with the flow, and realize that most of the time you will have absolutely no clue what you are doing but you better look and act like you know what is going on.
My first internship was at the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum where I aided in event planning, marketing, museum general operations, and supervised a few art classes.
My second internship was with a new company called LIVEyearbook.
I worked remotely for the company while I was at school and communicated with my supervisors through online meetings and emails. I learned very quickly that if you take a job where you work via the Internet entirely, it’s not always a good idea to work in your pajamas. I found myself biking as fast as I could to the school library in these pajamas to attempt to pick up lost calls and meetings more than I would have liked.
My third internship was with the costume shop at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. During this internship I had the opportunity to experience first-hand what it really means to manage and work with young artists.
This brings us to my fourth and final, and of course favorite internship here in Fergus Falls at A Center for the Arts.
The Center has been so kind and so welcoming over these past few months and has allowed me to do so many cool things and meet many great people and art supporters.
Helping out with the daily activities of the center have been great, but I must say the highlight of this summer has been being a part of the summer musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.”
It was so fun to work with such a talented group of people and to learn the ins and outs of a production.
The Center and all those involved with its programs and operations are wonderful to work with, full of enthusiasm, and make work feel like a lot of fun. Improvisation was definitely a skill that I developed this summer in various situations such as being appointed stage manager hours before a performance, getting a group of 12 first- through third-graders to direct a play just moments after waking up, and of course the various television interviews with about 30 seconds warning before filming.
It sure keeps it exciting at the Center, and I will miss it so.
Summer internships are always full of excitement and learning experiences, but I must say this summer topped them all.
Thanks for everything Fergus Falls, and particularly a huge thank you to everyone at A Center for the Arts.
Alex Burgraff is the summer intern for A Center for the Arts in Fergus Falls.
