(2020) Coming to a Close: What I Took Away From This Summer Internship

By: Clarke Hamilton (Lead2Change) 

Coming into my internship, I knew that it was going to be an entirely different experience from last summer when I was able to physically help in the filming process and edit with my peers. Although working virtually was not an anomaly to me, as I had completed the rest of my sophomore year virtually, editing without someone over my shoulder was definitely a task that required me to communicate more effectively and have more responsibility over the projects given to me. Last summer, I was able to collaborate with those around me, give and take ideas, and implement all of our ideas into one final video that would be posted on Lead2change’s socials and website. However, this year, I had to be able to draw up a storyboard for the videos with my designated group, communicate with the main interns of the program about filming dates for their internship videos, and help edit a few videos. Although these tasks were done from the comfort of my home, my responsibilities had to be executed well so there was no lost communication unlike last year where we could gather the interns, pass around a sign-up sheet for filming dates, and ask companies that we would interview to show up at one location. 

I would say that my greatest challenge this year was communicating effectively with different people in order to relay information and schedule and confirm dates to help the filming and editing process along smoothly. Relaying information over email to the correct person was definitely not as simple as I thought it would be. I knew that it would not be as easy as sending a quick text message to someone where they would be alerted right away, however, waiting for a response took longer than I thought it would. In some cases, the recipient may not have responded until a few days later. What made this difficult was the fact that schedule changes could happen between the time the email was sent and if not responded to expeditiously on my end and theirs, there can be a loop of scheduling conflict. Being patient was all I could do to overcome this challenge. I would organize the dates and times I already had by writing them on a piece of paper and waiting to add more or cross off the changed dates.

Another challenge this summer was being able to edit without someone standing over my shoulder. Yes, I edited last summer, so I have experience with Adobe Premier and taking on larger project videos, however, I was able to bounce ideas off my brain and my peers’ brains as well as have areas critiqued when we were still in the process of editing. Now, I have to edit what I believe to be a “finished but can be improved” edit to my supervisor and wait for feedback for changes that need to be made or small pieces that should be added to help him work with what I put together. The constant back and forth was something that did not happen last year as we were able to get feedback in real time before we exported the video. This summer I had to take in consideration what information about the interviews I was given, review the footage, and adjust accordingly. Then, I had to carefully edit and make revisions on my own before sending the “final product” to my supervisor to check. This would allow me to have to make less changes and make the process even more efficient.

Caption: Two separate assigned videos

Caption: What feedback and revision messages would look like

No matter the circumstance, I enjoyed my internship this year. Although it was more of “in the comfort of your home” and not a hands-on experience for me, it allowed me to become more proactive with assignments, manage my time accordingly, and organize dates and schedules. The challenges  I had to take on made me grow overall as a person and helped push me to make changes that could even help during the school year. I often wonder how I will learn from the next experience and grow to get closer to my full potential. Interning from home helped me to see how I work in a different environment than I am used to, and it will be an experience that will stick with me.