Don't Ask Me I'm Just the Intern

My Summer Internship Blog

[ericscissorhands]

Just a little reminder of what’s to come this year. ;D

Happy New Year!

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Eighth and Final Update

Well it's come to the end.  Tomorrow I carry out my intern presentation on "The Power of Storytelling for Pablove Shutterbugs" and finish up whatever final tasks the office has for me.  It's been a wonderful summer full of plenty of very necessary experiences of living alone and commuting in the city.  I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable internship.

To close, I'd like to return to discussing the challenges of the summer.  Overall, I never faced anything that was too hard to handle.  My frustrations with finding things to do when I was not on work days was settled as I had plenty to do for this upcoming school year.  I think the biggest challenge was simply finding ways to stay connected with friends and family.  There were plenty of lonely times, and while it was harder to get family to come all the way to LA, I learned to be more proactive in planning meet-ups with friends who were also living in the city.  In fact, I learned that just stepping out of the house and on a bus to anywhere was the best way to keep myself from sitting around all day.  This determined mentality was actually a major character development for me this summer.  I've definitely become more confident in many areas, from having tough conversations with friends and family to expressing my ideas for Pablove Shutterbugs to my director.  I look forward to returning to school expecting more of myself but also being more comfortable with who I am.

So, in short- Number of new GoogleDocs created: 10+.  Daft Punk albums reviewed (multiple times): 4.  Summer blockbusters viewed: 6.  Cups of coffee consumed: LOL. Hours of television consumed: I refuse to answer.  Books read: 12...I think, I lost count somewhere along the way.  Semester of Studying Abroad I have to look forward to: 1 freakin' awesome spring in New Zealand!  Clever Facebook posts thought up while waiting for the bus: ~5. Accidents involving ripping a hole in my jeans while rushing to shut of the house alarm: 1.  Number of weeks before I was out of food. Again: about 1...okay 4 days.  Value of the summer: priceless.

And one sad little intern not quite ready to leave Pablove.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Seventh Update

"Developing from self as leader to self as a participant in a collective leadership community result[s] in a shift in developmental complexity of the leadership practice.  The assumption here is that in order to effectively address the complex challenges, organizations need to develop and deploy more developmentally complex leadership practices.  Teams that were capable of moving from "us" to "all of us" also generally [are] more successful in producing project outcomes of tangible benefit to the organization."  (The Practice of Leadership, Conger and Riggio 2007)

For this update I would like to focus of practices of leadership as seen in the workplace.  I know I covered that pretty extensively in my last post, so this time I will be doing a bit of a case study of the Head Director of Shutterbugs, Jane.

Jane and I met for coffee and for the first time, I learned about a position that I could really see myself filling one day, here or wherever I ended up.  Jane's own career path seemed to reflect what I have recently been interested in, in that she has worked in the organizational departments of the education sector including museums and similar places.  When she arrived at Shutterbugs, she helped to strengthen the then very new and not quite independent department of Pablove.  She and Eva developed a whole new curriculum for the Shutterbugs camps, as well as a whole new system of storing past data and efficiently organizing registration.  It was absolutely amazing to hear that the whole stream-lined system I was helping to keep updated was not more than two years old!

So from a leadership perspective, I'm really glad I got to get a glimpse of how Jane must have led that initial change.  However, she was never, and still is not, alone.  Like I mentioned before, the leadership I've seen is very team-based.  I picked that quote from The Practice of Leadership because I think it encapsulates the mindset that the Shutterbug team, including Jane, has come to adopt.  It's not about each regional manager working alone, nor Shutterbugs working as it's own program.  The key to the success in this foundation as a whole is that each team member is not only connected to each other, but also plugged in to the organization and the big picture as a whole.  Each person in this office have taken on the goals of the Pablove Foundation, and banding together for these goals is how they work as a team.  So the most impressive form of leadership I have seen is to put aside any regalia that comes with fancy names like "director of such and such" and simply work as one body of dedicated human beings.

Also I would like to give an update on my research paper and intern presentation topic.  Like the literature major I am, I will be looking in to the power of storytelling as applied to these pediatric cancer patients and more specifically in the frame of photography.  The other team members seem really excited about this topic, and it actually served as a wonderful spring board for Jane and I to get into some really interesting conversations.  I realize I can bring something to this organization, even if that only means offering my own observations and ideas; which so far have been very well appreciated.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Sixth Update

Howdy do!  So the past days at work were definitely not as "yay we all know each other now and work is so much different" as I thought it would be.  However, there has been a lot of summer camp follow-up work, which has kept me busy.  I had a whole bunch of inventory that had to be updated.  And I'm pretty sure my punishment for that blunder I made during the last day of camp was having to go through the kid's pictures they picked for our gallery show.  Looking through the kids photographs, especially those they took for homework, was really hard.  It made me miss all of them like crazy.

I'm dedicating this post to leadership, specifically that of my superiors.  Being the intern that sits in the corner of the office, I've had the opportunity to listen to most of the team meetings that take place in the Shutterbugs Department.  So the levels of the department or whatever are Jane the chief of command, Eva the Senior Regional Manager, and Raul and Brad who are both Regional Managers.  As a team however, they all seem to divide responsibilities between whoever's region the subject (usually one of the satellite sites for the program) lies in.  Rank seems to only be pulled when e-mails or proposals need to be run by someone.  Then it's Eva or Jane I suppose.

In concern to me, I guess I receive enough leadership.  A lot of the work I do is pretty intuitive, like figuring certain organizational or storage websites I may not be familiar with.  So as long as someone shows me how to get to said site and the basics of using it, I'm usually good to go.  Where would I like more leadership?  Hmmm, I can't even say.  I guess the only times I haven't done something is because my instructions were not clear, not because I was not shown how to do it.  But overall, it is a very laid back office.  I may just be experiencing that because I'm just the intern and the real responsibilities aren't really given to me.  So, it's actually hard to say.

There's not too much about any of my superior's jobs that makes me want to work here that badly.  On the other hand, the organization and planning involved in a lot of their work is something I would like to get more experience in.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Time to Talk About Failure

I screwed up today.  I got caught up in the business of the final day of summer camp and failed to follow through with one of my only jobs for the week: uploading kids pictures to our hard drive.  Technically, we had uploaded all their pictures as of yesterday afternoon after the LACMA field trip.  The teachers had also put together the final photo presentations for each of the kids yesterday.  My mind was a jumble this morning but my big mistake was dropping the ball on clarifying whether we needed whatever pictures they had taken last night.  Dropping the ball.  I can't stand when I fail and I think I was more disappointed in myself than my director was.  We only missed the pictures from the morning kids and they all still have them saved on their cameras.  But... I felt really bad and I just had to get it off my chest.  First time I dropped the ball during this internship.  And, if I can help it, it will be the last.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Fifth Update

That quote was the first blip from my week at Shutterbugs Camp.  All I can say is that this week has made the whole month of pencil-pushing, updating docs, and making phone calls completely worth it.  These are some of the most adorable kids I have met and every day has just been so delightful.  The younger group is, of course, adorable, and the older kids have been so inspirational, the way that they get super into using what they learn to make their photographs better.  We just finished our field trip day at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and it was fantastic.  Seeing the kids use all the techniques the teaching instructor has shown them is so neat, especially as they tackle new environments.  The gleam in their eye when they see exactly how they should capture an image gets me every time.  I had fun snapping shots of the smiley little Jacob, keeping an eye on the maybe-too-adventurous Daniel, and pushing Cayden around in his wheelchair.  Tomorrow is their Shutterbugs graduation ceremony and I'm going to try really hard not to cry.

I'd like to dedicate this update to discussing work environment.  This week was clearly an exception but I think it was definitely more in line with the environment I would like to work in one day.  The Pablove office is extremely chill and I typically don't feel like an intern.  Everyone is pleasant and the spirit of the office is always busy but no one person is ever bossing anyone else around.  Seeing the Shutterbugs team work together this week has been nice, because I could tell how tight our department really is.  Eva, Raoul and Brad are all down to earth people who clearly love kids and find real joy in watching these children and their families reap the wonderful benefits of this program.  I also got the chance to meet the other Shutterbugs intern and I must say that we are very similar.  This organization definitely draws a certain type of person into its workplace.

With all this in mind, I'm realizing that I could work in an environment like this.  My ideal workplace would definitely consist of even more time and space where I am surrounded with children but also a place where I can work alone a lot.  Today we visited the LACMA's Photography Department archives where they store and organize their prints; and needless to say, I was in love.  Though working mostly with art pieces and books may seem lonely to most, I could definitely see myself working in a place like that.  I know I will need to explore other possible career and workplaces, as this summer internship is definitely not a typical one.  Being a Shutterbugs Intern has definitely been an experience.

Me after the second day of camp!  At the Annenberg in Century City.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

You're a kick-ass intern!

Raoul, my co-worker and Regional Manager of Pablove Shutterbugs

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Fourth Update

So I have been working pretty busily while I'm in the office but there are not too many new developments to elaborate on.  I will throw a quick shout out to my nice 4th of July weekend I spent at home.  For the rest of this update, however, I would like to discuss "value" as concerned with my internship.  This will be a two-fold little stream of consciousness on my part.

One, I've been contemplating the value of this internship in general, personally and professionally that is.  Being away from my normal summer job of teaching kids at my church's summer program has reminded me how at home I feel in the environment of education, and especially being surrounded by children.  In this way, I'm becoming more and more drawn to  exploring the teaching opportunities post college graduation.  This leads me to wonder why I pursued this internship instead of some other teaching experience.  What is the VALUE of this internship?  Well, for one, it's my first internship and everyone needs a start.  Although this is a very different job than is typical, it is a valuable interaction with the non-profit sector of the "grown-up" world.  I'm getting a taste of what it's like to commute to work, figure out what to eat for lunch (no convenient dining halls around here!), and work in an office.  I think it's really important for me to learn how much goes in to this organization, from making calls to set up fundraisers, to buying snacks for upcoming camps.  The most valuable part of this internship is that I'm learning.  Learning about the non-profit sector, both the exciting as well as not so glamorous parts.  Learning about how to work with people in general.  And, most importantly, learning about myself.

That leads to my next inquiry: what is MY VALUE in this place?  When I first got here, I literally thought to myself, "who counted all the office supplies and fenangled with the endless google docs before I was here?"  I convinced myself that I was just making some other employee's job easier and they were quietly laughing to themselves every time I cursed at the jammed printer.  So, on my way home the other day, I decided to mentally list all the things I had done since arriving.  Here's a little bit of my mental notepad: 

I updated student records.

I verified information for our program expansion.

Packed the box for tabling at hospitals.

Visited hospitals to talk to parents and patients about our photography camp.

Ordered student prints.

Converted program evaluation forms to an electronic form.

Put some demographics together.

Called families to tell them about the upcoming camp.

Sent applications as well as acceptance letters to families (like ALOT of acceptance letter materials) (now I loathe the printer).

Made a boat load of personalized envelopes.

Made more phone calls (did I mention I get nervous on the phone?).

Edited some documents, updated student information, type type type.

Printed out another boat load of name tags and bag tags.

Called Trader Joe's to make appointments for picking up snacks.

And I don't think that's all of it.  But, as you can see, I got to somewhere near number 10 and realized there was definitely value in my work.  Especially as Shutterbugs is nearing, I'm being relied on a lot to maintain connections between the office and the families who will be involved in the camp.  So, yes, this was mostly me blabbing on.  But I wanted to let you know that I am finding value in my role as a Pablove team member and that is satisfying me.  I know that I am making a difference in these cancer families' lives.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

A Quick Brainstorm

      So for this internship course, as well as my Pablove internship, I have to research and write about something related to my summer as well as how leadership ties into that.  As I was going through some student evaluation forms, I found something a bit disturbing.  Although the range of ages of participants was rather large (5-20), it was some younger kids, if any, that were able to genuinely express their opinions and experiences through their written responses.  It made me think: learning how to express yourself through photography or other forms of visual art is great.  But what if you can't use words to further elaborate on those thoughts and feelings?  This made me think there must be some programs that help patients develop other ways to express themselves, right?  Books are not only an escape for youth in the hospitals, but they give readers new ways to express themselves, new experiences to feed off of and learn from.

     So, with all this in mind, I began a search for some concrete program that zones in the literary development of hospital kids, especially teens and young adults.  So far, I have found nothing.  Just a start on a possible research topic, and I thought I should write it down.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Third Update (Lots of Pictures!)

     So this post comes even later because I have been even busier since the last update.  It also comes with lots of pictures!

     In the personal sector, my weekends seemed quite nonstop.  On the day of the last CHLA hospital visit, I was swept up into my brother's high school graduation.  It was a joyous event filled with lots of running around to prep for the party as well as lots of time with family that came to visit.  That Sunday was Father's Day, which was also quite a whirlwind of activity, as it was the last day for all of us who needed to go back home on Monday.  Overall, I cannot say how proud I am of my little brother (see picture below).  At the end of that work week, I spent time with friends who had finally started their own internships around LA.  This included driving to visit people back at school, a movie at The Chinese Theater, and a fun night at the DTLA Night Market.  Oh, and cheering on dear old Team USA as they played Portugal in the World Cup.  If you've been watching, you know how that went...

     Don't think that these fun weekends came without some hard work at the Pablove offices.  Last week I met with my direct supervisor to discuss how the internship is going and give my thoughts.  I told her that I was ready for more responsibilities.  It's kind of hard to not just spout out "I've had jobs harder than this!" but I really did want her to know that I could handle more.  I suppose this could be one of the challenges I've faced so far, just the idea that I'm doing typical intern work, which is really less than I've done in other jobs.  But I'm definitely working on that.

     With that in mind, I have been given a bit more responsibilities, like mailing things out to families as well as reaching out to past participants through e-mail.  The toughest job so far?  Calling families.  Ughh.  I hate talking on the phone, I sound like a baby, etc.  But, the more people I talked to and the more I went through my little script, I felt super comfortable.  I can now confidently say that my phone skills have improved.  Also, I now officially hate the printers, especially this little personal one I have to use all the time.  But I guess that comes with the job.

     On a more leadership type thread, I definitely feel that I'm learning exactly how my director works.  For example, I know I just need to tell her when I need a new assignment or ask for more to do and basically be honest.  Yup.  Honesty and straightforwardness are definite strengths in this kind of workplace.  Which is overall a really chill environment.  My desk is nestled in the corner (I should have an arrow above me with INTERRNN in bold letters) of the Shutterbugs space.  So I work with my supervisor, the director of Shutterbugs, and other regional managers.  Interactions with anyone else is only in passing I suppose.  But that's ok, because I have plenty of time to become best buddies with everyone.

Lastly, here are some pictures from the very exciting and non-stop weekends.  Hopefully there are more to come!

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Second Update

     So it has been a busy past week.  It was my first week out here with no actual plans, so I had to make do.  On Wednesday I walked down Sunset to get a feel for the good places to visit later on.  Thursday was more exciting, as I took a hike up to the Griffith's Observatory.  The park is but a hop, skip, and throw away from where I'm living.  The hike was steep but quick enough and the view at the top was fantastic.  I laid back for the rest of the weekend, catching up on reading and other to-dos.

     This week at Pablove was definitely more exciting.  Finished up some things for the previous photography camp, like ordering pictures for the students and finishing up some updating of student rosters and demographics.  Finally, I could look to this summer's camp, as I was assigned to start researching field trip locations for the camp's "outing day."  Definitely writing some of these spots down to visit during my own time here.  

    And today (Wednesday) was most exciting as I got to join Eva again in tabling at a hospital.  This time, however, was at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, which was much busier and better populated than the last.  We ran around between the Hope Resource Center for the pediatric patients and the Infusion Clinic where most of the kids were oncology (cancer) patients.  I was thrown in the deep end a little as I was pulled to talk to one teen about Shutterbugs.  As the day progressed, however, I grew more comfortable, bouncing from one family to the next with applications and brochures in hand.  These kids were so sweet.  I cannot say what types of cancer they had each been diagnosed with, but they were all so beautiful and their little spirits so warm.  I'm looking forward to seeing some of them (hopefully lots) very soon while I work at the Shutterbugs summer camp.

For more pics, you can follow me on Instagram! Find me @ lindsey_thekid

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

First Update

Helo all.  So the first couple weeks have been good.  Doing lots of "interny" stuff like creating GoogleDocs and updating inventory and corroborating data and such.  I did have the opportunity to help table at UCLA Memorial Hospital although I didn't get to meet too many families or children.  Next week, however, I will get to table at the Children's Hospital of LA which is a lot more popular and serves more families.

So, enough with technical stuff.  Time to talk about life in LA.  I have a set route I travel to get to work and I feel pretty confident in my use of the Metro and bus system around here.  I know the Hollywood area enough to have little adventures already planned for when friends come to visit (hopefully soon).  That's one of my big challeneges so far.  Just finding things to do on my off days.  Once other CMCers arrive to work and intern in the area, I'm hoping I'll have fuller weeks.  But for now I need to force myself to go outside and not watch Hulu for 4+ hours.  At least I have books, as well, to occupy myself with.

So let's set some goals.  This summer I'd like to get up there in the Pablove Foundation, enough where they see me as dedicated member of the team and I get some real opportunities.  On the personal side, I want to finish my application for studying abroad in the spring, catch up on reading, and maybe take some classes online or nearby.  Walking through Los Feliz I saw an art supply store offering screen-printing classes. That would be really neat.  Also I am determined to get some computer science knowledge under my belt.  Well, that's all for now.  Back to my reading.

[dontaskmeimjustheintern]

Name:Lindsey, Position:Intern

I'll try not to have too much fun with this.

This summer I am working at the Pablove Foundation in LA and I will be recording all adventures, challenges, reflections, and more right here on this blog.

To say a little about the foundation, it is a non-profit organization geared completely towards families facing pediatric cancer.  It's mission is three-pronged.  1)  They fundraise to provide seed grants to hospitals researching the most rare forms of pediatric cancer, since there is very little information on these (compared to leukemia, the most common).  2)  They educate and empower families of patients about the illnesses their kids are facing and what they can do about it.  3)  They create opportunities for these kids (very often cooped on in hospitals for much of their young life) to just be kids.  This includes Shutterbugs, an arts education program where students learn how to express themselves through photography.

Needless to say, this is a great place to work and feel like I'm helping make a difference in the lives of cancer families.  Specifically, I am a Shutterbugs Program Intern, which means I will be helping with their overall work as well as the camps and workshops coming up.  Super stoked.

Check out the foundation at www.pablove.org.