The kids need you!

My name is Katelyn Pasternak and I am currently interning at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for their in-house TV network, Galaxy 51. The goal of the studio is to provide a fun distraction from an otherwise stressful moment in the lives of the children and their families.

I will start off by saying I study advertising, art direction, at Temple University, along with having a ton of experience working with children and their families as a nanny. I knew that in this internship I would have lots of hands on experience with children who may be under difficult circumstances, as well as being more about production, so I took this as a real learning experience, which is exactly what it is. If you are considering an internship like this, here are some things to know.

First and foremost, the employees who are teaching you are all super cool, really nice, and really know what they’re doing. They want you to learn and understand every aspect of the studio so they really put forth that time to teach you. The environment is very welcoming to your questions and concerns, as well as your suggestions on ways they can improve. So, don’t be discouraged by the amount of responsibility being thrown at you, there is always someone there to help.

Also, a good thing to know is that no one (who works for the studio) had any experience working with children prior to their internship. So if you’re not sure if you’d be good with kids, this is probably a perfect way to find out. You do work with kids, but not in excess. For the most part you are developing programming, or even hosting shows, and because it’s for children, you have lots of room to be silly and make mistakes. No one is judging you.

At the end of the day, this internship is reminding me what I love so much about working with families. Being able to help bring relief, no matter what the circumstances might be, is just so rewarding. I’m learning to work with children in a different way, and I am extremely excited about that. I can see this really being good for future endeavors in advertising or graphic design.

As I’m sitting here raving about how much I love this internship, I do want everyone to know that it does require some time and effort. You’ll have homework every week, which isn’t necessarily hard, but it can be a little time consuming. However, if offered to you, you should never skip over this opportunity, because your efforts are putting smiles on the faces of children and their families.