About the Apprentices: The Benefits of Interning at Nonprofits
For me personally, interning at the Downriver Council for the Arts (DCA) is a way that I can give back to the organization that helped to spur my passion for the arts. When I was young, I spent countless hours in the art studios, working in multiple medias, being taught by teachers who wanted nothing more than to create creative passion.
I am one of many that wish to build a career, or merely contribute to a larger community, using interning as the first step to do so. Interning is recognized in both communal and professional landscapes as “real-world” experience, or in other words, experience most closely related to a chosen career. Interning however, can be much more than that. It is inclusive of all individuals, not just college students, offering a wide variety of opportunities for professions, but also for passions.
Interning is for all ages and can be paid or unpaid positions, all personalizable and coming with a massive array of benefits. For college students, internships can often count for college course credit, research interns can experience and contribute directly to the line of work they are going into, and finally, while working in these kinds of positions, an intern is truly in the field, gaining first-hand, credible, and valuable, work experience that often looks fantastic to future employers. Because of this, internship work is important to help one determine if they are truly in the right place for employment. It is an experimental opportunity to weed out the doubts that come up when considering a first career, or even a career switch later in life.
Volunteers, interns, and students of the DCA
While working as an intern, an individual builds up their confidence, as well as connections, one of the most important benefits of interning. References and recommendations can be hard to come by, and by doing this kind of work, it eases that pressure tenfold. Organic and honest mentor relationships are able to be curated, which also eases the transition to long-term career work.
All of this however, can sound like very corporate and work-oriented reasons to intern, but many internships stray from this. There are internships where the more corporate mindset is set aside, often occurring when one chooses to work in a nonprofit location. Nonprofits are organizations that operate with a goal other than that of financial gain. They typically run with the intent of giving back to the public, a charity, or even for contributing to social or recreational groups. Interning at nonprofits gives back to these organizations, allowing the individual to also contribute to the overall well being of the public. Often, these institutions rely on this kind of help as well.
There are still career benefits along with the ones aforementioned. More personal connections with higher-ups happen in these kinds of environments, as the decision makers here have a more keen eye for the passion that drives those that help them. There are also same-level connections that are more valuable, due to workers putting team and mission-driven work at the forefront. Interning with this kind of mindset, one more mission-oriented, has the potential to instill and ensure that there is passion behind the work one completes in their life. Nonprofits are started with passion, it festers in the walls of these organizations. Working and collaborating in a place like this will only lead to drive and heightened motivation, helping to push a long lasting and fulfilling career.
This is also due to the extensive customization that nonprofit internships offer, being that there is likely an organization for any cause, and the relationships you form in these places lead you to fostering your talents in a more effective way than at corporations. For example, the Downriver Council for the Arts.
There are a multitude of volunteers and interns that keep the DCA running. There are opportunities to write, to create, to teach, to learn, or even just be a part of meetings and talk with those who have similar interests. All of this stems back to community, and the Downriver Council for the Arts puts this at the forefront of their mission, to inspire and spur creative passion through generations. They carefully craft their environment and pride themselves on being open minded to anyone who may want to contribute.
I write this from experience, as I am one of many at the DCA, working to write and record the inner happenings of the exhibits, resident artists, art camps, and more. I grew up not only within the walls of the DCA, but in one of the many communities that it serves, and interning with the same people that started me down this path has been one of many rewarding experiences at the Downriver Council for the Arts.
