The end of the beginning
December 9, 2013 was my last event for the non-profit corporation known as the Global Philadelphia Association. Now that it is over, I fully appreciate everything that has happened to me concerned my work with the association, however difficult it might have felt at the time. The catch with non-profits is that there is very little payment for the workers involved. Those who work for Global Philadelphia full-time do it not because they care about the money, but because they care about what the association aims to accomplish.
Because of the monetary issue, there are very limited manpower reasons for associations such as Global Philadelphia to draw from. This place a great deal of responsibility as well as an obligation to be vigilant and open minded on Global Philadelphia interns. While there were certainly times that I was seriously doubting my ability to maintain a position with such an ever changing and fast paced position.
I became involved with the Association in June but am just now concluding my internship, like everyone who began their experience in August. Given that it took me quite a bit of time to find my niche with the association, it only felt right to give them a hefty amount of my time. I originally came on to do statistics work for the organization, but it quickly became apparent that I am not meant to work with numbers or Excel sheets.
Over the past 6 months, I have photographed and videographed GP13 events including but not limited to the GP13 Preview Party, Opening Ceremony, and Closing Reception. Some others included a Cross Country Conversation discussion panel at Drexel University concerned the global music marketplace, as well as the Russian Mosaica Festival. I also organized the GP13 Treasure Hunt after assisting in the product of the GP13 Passport.
December 9th was the Third Annual Members Meeting for the Global Philadelphia Association. As my last directive for the association, my job was to manage the event. All of the other events that I had attended for Global Philadelphia were much larger scale, so hosting this event felt remarkably easy. Indicative of open-mindedness of the Global Philadelphia staff, I was able to incorporate graphic design into this event. I design a invitation, program, and raffle sheet, as well as signage for 7 different discussion sections of an “Ideas Summit.” Additionally, I was a facilitator for the discussion section about International Journalism. This involved initiating and navigating a group discussion in order to try and get useful input and information from participants.
My internship was one of the most important and eye opening experiences of my entire life. There is not a doubt in my mind that I will continue to volunteer for association events when asked. Not only did I learn new skills, but I feel as though skills that I already possessed have been exponentially strengthened.
