My Internship Experience - Essay Example

Internship Experience My internship experience has been fathomable in that I have gained knowledge on how to be competitive in my career. Before I started my internship at the Minnesota Film and TV, I was not sure of what to specialize in. At some point, I had to think what movie production meant to me as a career. At this point, I had to articulate my own motivations for entering into the internship I had chosen. After a deep evaluation, I evaluated that the internship would advance my skills and abilities in movie production. While growing up, I had a deep desire within me to pursue and advance my career in film production. This instigated my desire to advance my studies in high school and college. At some point, I was unable to full attain my goals until now when I discovered this internship. I must admit that this internship has changed my perception as a film producer in the marketplace. In my internship, I have learnt that my career is more of a personal experience than being taught in the classroom. I have gained great insights on entertainment industry specifically about film production. My experience in this internship has adequately prepared me to understand what is required to shoot a film or a commercial. I have been motivated to apply in different placements such as TV Board and MN film. I am privileged to understand the things that take place when shooting a film such as the best location to make the movie, the equipments required, and the funding just to name a few. In life, mentors cannot be underestimated in that they help many people understand their personal and career goals. Craig Rice has been a great mentor in my career in that he has equipped me with skills and abilities that help one to become a competent film producer. With this, I am ready to face the modern world that value films and commercial adverts. When we first met, Craig promised me that he would usher me in my career as a producer. Since I met him, I have discovered more about myself especially in the arena of film production. I have expanded my knowledge in the film production by ensuring that I am challenging myself. This internship has been a tremendous opportunity to integrate practices and theories that I learnt in high school and college. I have studied a lot of practice in my classes, and even applied some to application. However, this internship has changed my role as an observer to being more of an active participant in the field. My experience has challenged my theoretical base in the classroom in that I practically utilized what I have been taught in the classroom to the field. My knowledge in film production has increased from one level to the other. As previously mentioned, I have learnt how to make a film or a commercial and the best location that suit the production process. I have developed some principles in my work. In essence, I have obtained these principles from my personal experiences in school, in the workplace, and life. The intern has helped me understand what my weaknesses and strengths are in given situations. Understanding what works for me has expanded my skills in my area of professionalism. I have moved into another phase of learning where the focus differs from learning the work to understanding and learning how to perform the task effectively. This internship has helped me to acquire new skills and abilities, and I am now grateful since I can think about skill development in broad terms. Internship is an opportunity for a student to measure their learning in class to the actual work. The knowledge and skills acquired from the class can be applied in the field and will effectively help a student succeed in their work (Frederick and King 8). The greatest importance of attending an internship is to understand the real issues inherent in the field, as opposed to the theoretical learning in the class. It is more of a practical class that is not learnt in a learning institution. Skills are acquired, which help the intern to handle similar situations in their jobs. It serves as a mirror for the student to know how the job industry is like. More revelations have come my way, as I have realized that in life, mentors cannot be underestimated. Mentors help many people understand their personal and career goals. Craig Rice for example has been a great mentor in my career in that he has equipped me with skills and abilities that help one become a competent film producer. With this, I am ready to face the modern world that value films and commercial advertisements. I remember when we first met with Craig; he promised me that he would usher me in my career as a producer. He kept his promise by giving me an opportunity to organize the Minneapolis St. Paul International Festival. Although I did not have the knowledge or expertise, I committed myself to undertaking research and later managed to make the whole process a success. This greatly motivated me, as I discovered my potential in the film industry. Since I met him, I have discovered more about myself especially in the arena of film production. I have expanded my knowledge in the film production by ensuring that I am challenging myself. This internship has been a tremendous opportunity for me to integrate practices and theories that I learnt in high school and college. Contrary to what I learnt in class, I have been able to apply the theoretical part of my studies to successfully understand what is required of me in the firms. For example, I have been able to apply the concepts learned about spread sheets and purposed to apply them in our Showbate festival. The internship has been my greatest teacher, classroom and my library. The knowledge I have acquired from the role I held and the people that I have been associating with is immense. I had a goal and an objective when I first landed the internship. Every student is required to have a plan and an objective to effectively and utilize the opportunity that they have in the field. Setting specific goals and objectives are essential in the utilization of the time that a student is in the field. Frederick and King (92) Points out that setting up of objectives is both an art and a skill. As an art, it enables the student to deciding on the vision and the objectives intended, while as a skill, it shows the ability to of the learner to incorporate goals, activities and assessing measures in one statement. However, this internship has changed my role as an observer to being more of an active participant in the field. My experience has challenged my theoretical base in the classroom in that I practically made use of what I have been taught in the classroom to the field. My knowledge in film production has increased from one level to the other. As previously mentioned, I have learnt how to make a film or a commercial and the best location that suit the production process mas well as prepare spread sheets for our programme. Although little has been taught about filming in the classroom, other classes have helped me during the internship process. The communication class has greatly helped improve my public speaking skills, to the point of giving the courage and confidence while speaking to people. I have had expanded my contact base with the industry experts as a result of the communication classes that I took in class. I recall the various speeches that I participated in in the class, and how immensely they helped me develop my spoken language skills. Approaching the clients and people who could help me in growing my career was easy. Confidently, I was able to talk to them, and lay my ideas to them. The internship has helped me develop better relationships that make me a better person in my career. I have continuously developed relationships with my work peers, co-workers, clients, and supervisors. I have been in a better position to learn from others and understand how people react differently to various situations. This has significantly improved my social life in that I have understood how to avoid people from interfering with my general well-being and work. I have also learnt how to react to life situations. I have learnt that dealing with clients and co-workers can be emotionally demanding. Specifically, understanding their stands and viewpoint can be threatening and challenging. For people to coexist together, it is possible for them to understand one another. I took it upon myself to learn people’s behaviour, their likes and dislikes. Moreover, for mutual understanding, it is essential to respect their points of view and their principles. I was able to grow my public relations skills and talents. Handling people became easy, as I understood them well. The psychology of socialization came to my assistance. As I have come to know how people react in different circumstances, I have discovered the importance of appreciating all people regardless of their social status, education, or family background. I have learnt how to react with diversity in terms of lifestyle, social class, age, ethnicity, and race. I now know what it feels to deal with diversity. As I understand how people behave and respond to things, I have discovered more about myself. I have understood myself more in terms of values, cultural identities, behaviours, and social issues. These factors have created a fulfilling life that look into the real life and make sense of life experiences. During internship, I have taken adequate time to develop my reflective skills, which are vital in keeping me in touch with real life experiences (Frederick and King 134). I strongly believe that I will be a competent individual in my area of professionalism. This internship has equipped me with skills and abilities that relate to my career. It has prepared me to respond to things that affect the entertainment industry. Most importantly, this experience has created a strong ground to understand how to make films and commercials in the best locations. My experience of interacting with different people from diverse background is important since it prepares me in my future career. I will be in a better position to understand my co-workers, peers, and clients. When I leave the internship, I am confident that I will be a better person towards achieving my lifetime dream of being a film maker and a producer. The filed has sharpened my skills so that I feel that I am headed to the right direction. At first, I only had a belief that I would make it to becoming a film maker. However, this opportunity has made my dream realistic. Every step that I take now is geared towards taking me to that dream that I have always craved for. I plan to advance my knowledge in the film industry by going to Chicago to further study and sharpen my skills more. During the internship, I have realized the importance of communication. It is the main reason why I have been able to make contacts with the people I was relating to. But I am not done yet. I need to advance a little more in the communication skills and by this, I have to take a few classes on communication skills. This will open my networks more, as I will be able to speak with any client in the film industry. My main aim is to advance myself so as to become an expert in the film industry. I too plan to expand the Minnesota film industry and open it to the other film makers. I however cannot do this, as I feel that I am not ready. First I need attend various classes before I return to the country. However, I am also contemplating on getting a paid internship so I can expand my connections and contact base. This will also give me an opportunity to grow my knowledge and skills in the film industry as I am still a learner. Thus far, I must admit that this internship will play a significant role in my career. I am grateful for having a chance to work at the Minnesota Film and TV Board. I have learnt more about my business by doing what I have learnt in school. As mentioned earlier, this internship is worth recognizing in that my career is more of an experience based career rather than being taught in the classroom. Thus, this internship has laid a strong platform where I can practically utilize what I have learnt in the form of theories. In my internship, I have learnt that my career is best learnt in the field where one gets a chance to work and make few commercials. In the future, I am looking forward for more internship classes that will foster growth in my career. With experiences, skills, and abilities learnt in this internship, I would encourage many students to participate in such experiences to augment growth in their area of professionalism. Works Cited Frederick, Sweitzer, and King Mary. The Successful Internship: Transformation and Empowerment in Experiential Learning. Belmont, Calif: Brooks/Cole, 2004. Print. Read More