I can’ t even begin to describe my experiences at Wide Angle, but I will say that they are all positive things! I’ ve never been treated like a true adult in a working environment before. My supervisors and staff members provided me with such a warm and welcoming home, and genuinely wanted to see me accomplish the goals I had expressed. Unlike other internships, I was given the chance( and trust) to be in charge of classroom days, social media, and event planning. Wide Angle saw my desire to do more than“ no one wants to do this, so let’ s give it to the intern” work and gave me the chance to sincerely engage with young people.
I’ ve gotten the privilege of working with over 30 students in our MediaWorks program, where I helped students produce video, graphic design, and photo work for clients. Although our students’ client work is impressive, I think their personal growth sticks with me the most. We’ ve had our fair share of fun moments in terms of learning professionalism. This includes an activity where I had students practice calling each other, which ended up in a lot of silly scenarios thrown at them and interesting responses( like lots of nervous hang-ups and laughter) as they tried to navigate it in a professional manner. I’ ve witnessed students who had no prior media experience gain a whole new respect for media and the arts. This was exemplified best from a student who voiced on the very first day that she didn’ t care for our work because it was“ not as hard as medicine,” which was the field she sought to go into. By the end of our program, she spoke about how her behind-the-scenes experience of video work made her realize that much more effort and thought goes into the whole process and how impactful a video message can be on addressing community issues and that she is now considering doing some video work as a hobby while she studies medicine.
Community Partner: Wide Angle Youth Media Intern: Nancy Zhang Site Supervisor: Tia Price
What is Wide Angle Youth Media? Wide Angle Youth Media is a 501( c) 3 non-profit organization that provides Baltimore youth with media education to tell their own stories and become engaged with their communities. Through quality after-school programming, inschool opportunities, summer workshops, community events, and an annual Youth Media Festival, Wide Angle supports young people making a difference through media.
But my favorite memory of this entire experience was watching all of our students represent the talented young professionals that they are at our Closing Ceremony. Within five weeks they transitioned from downright refusing to present to showing up at our event with huge smiles and their Sunday’ s Best on because they were proud of everything they had done. I watched these once-nervous students present with confidence-- eye contact, booming voices and memorized lines! Going into CIIP, I knew I would undergo a life changing experience, but I could never have prepared myself for this level of change; I’ m extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to work with so many remarkable people in Baltimore.
• Taught high-school and college-aged youth about professionalism, including interview etiquette, cover letters, and public speaking
• Organized community events, upcoming programs and workshops, ranging from outlining meeting dates, agendas, setup, and locations
• Created a classroom organization system to track attendance and individual growth
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