Category: COMD 4900 Internship Spring 2023

The supervisor of my internship, which is also the Director, was a wonderful role model. I have always wanted to work with a non-profit organization because I feel that they care about people on a different level. Their goals are to help society and for people to live better lives.

Before I accepted my internship I did research to see what they were about, their programs, mission and I read the short bio on the Director. You can create all types of programs, however, if you do not motivate them or teach them professional values, they will not perform to their full potential. The programs at my internship are life changing as they also teach the students about personal grooming, work ethics and teamwork. All of this is done so that they can seek gainful employment.

When I first met my supervisor she had explained to me about their various programs. One of the programs train young adults who live in a housing authority in the field of construction. She also said something to me that was very memorable. It was about how they also teach them how to dress successfully for a job interview. they work with a program that donates suits to the young men to wear to interviews. I was surprised but elated to hear this as many who live in public housing can’t afford suits. Incorporating this into their program shows me how dedicated she is in helping young adults. Having a son, I know the struggles of what young males go through. My supervisor is a great role model because she inspires me to push my son and nephews into having a better life. Training is not just about going to school, you have to offer mentoring, counseling and as this internship provided, preparation for the real world.

When I first learned that we had to do an internship as part of the program I was nervous because I haven’t worked within the graphic design field for many years. However, I understand that this internship was required in order to prepare us for the real world. It made us step outside of our comfort zone because this internship was about satisfying the design needs of an organization. I learned that in order to do this you have to understand their goals and mission for the future. Once I was able to do this, I was able to visually come up with ways to help them achieve their mission. My overall experience as an intern with my organization was great because they allowed me to freely design and offer them several solutions to a problem. Graphic Design is about solutions and I learned that it is best if you come up with more than one. Each time I showed them new designs they were elated which in turn made me feel confident in my design skills. The support I received was wonderful and in the end I feel that I can tackle any design problem presented to me.

In addition, this internship journey has allowed me to learn the latest software such as WordPress and Photoshop/Illustrator techniques. I also enjoyed doing research to see the latest trends on designs for non-profit programs.

I was finally able to meet with the web programmer via zoom and it was a very productive meeting. Before I had started interning with my organization, the programmer had provided them a few templates to choose from for their new website. They had picked what they wanted so all we had to do is provide the content for the pages. He showed me their draft website via live link and I showed him all of the new page designs and content I worked on. The good news about this is that we can visit the draft site at any time to see all of the changes implemented. My task now is to give him the content for the completed pages. There was one design he said would be difficult to implement, however, he informed me that if necessary he could embed the design as a pdf. After some thought, I don’t think this will be efficient because the organization may need to update the content later. I plan on coming up with another solution.

Since my internship is 100% remote, I don’t have to worry about attire. The organization I work with operate weekdays only from 9am to 5pm. I had explained to my supervisor that since I work full-time during the day I would have to carry out my assignments in the evening and on the weekends. She had no problem with this as she knows many students also work during the day. Our concern was about making sure we communicate with each via email or phone. We worked out a solution in where she would only contact me during the day during lunchtime. However, I did inform her that I can talk after work if necessary and on the weekends. Since she is the Director she had no problem with this. The majority of the communication will be via email.

When I visited their site I saw that she had a small staff and she connected me to one of her staff who will be assisting me with my tasks. Everyone seems very friendly and helpful which fits in with their mission of helping people. The atmosphere was casual and informal yet you can see the staff busy working.

Besides my full-time job, I also work part-time with the School of Professional Studies at City Tech. My supervisor there had sent out a group email to some areas she communicates with asking them if they were in need of a graphic design student intern. Most had responded yes but only a few actually reached out to me. However, after the initial contact, I didn’t get anymore responses. There was one area I was really interested in working with because of their mission of helping undeserved communities. After a couple of weeks of no response, I then took it upon myself to reach out again and got a response. Shermira Busby, the Director of Business & Industry Training Center was delighted to hear from me again and informed me she was interested. She had apologized about not contacting me earlier due to a proposal she was working on. She briefly asked me what I can offer as a graphic designer and about my scheduling. That was basically it for an interview.

My role within the internship will be helping them redo their current website and update all of their social media pages. I will be working with the web programmer to go over all of the design details needed to create their new site such as color, layout, images, forms and scripts. For their social media pages I will be designing them to reflect the new look of their website. Their goal is to market their online presence to attract more clients for their services.

The Business & Industry Workforce Training Center (BIWTC) is a part of New York City College of Technology’s Continuing Education Center. They are located at 25 Chapel Street, a couple of blocks down from City Tech. BIWTC currently has 6 staff members and 2 Instructors.

BIWTC has 4 programs: building maintenance, construction, direct care training to work with developmentally disabled adults and children and family development training. Their main mission is to provide vocational and educational training to unemployed, underemployed and low income residents of New York City. They also provide counseling, referrals, workshops and workforce preparation.

I couldn’t find any news articles about BIWTC, however, I did find success stories about their programs. They were interested to read because they provided real stories on how people were helped by attending their programs. One story was about a Brooklyn resident of a NYCHA in seek of work. He was referred to BIWTC where he finished their building maintenance program and became a painter’s apprentice with NYCHA. It was enlightening to read that NYCHA hires trained residents to maintain their buildings.