I had the opportunity to do my internship with Ants in the Pants Productions. From start to finish, it was a wholesome and fulfilling experience. The non-profit organization was emphasizing creativity and encouragement towards self-improvement, especially in kids. Getting an internship with this site has helped solidify my plans for the future. This site has helped me realize how much I like working and helping children with their education. It also gave me an opportunity to see how diverse kids are when it comes to learning new ideas and concepts.
I'm currently majoring in Psychology with a focus in child development. I was able to apply the information I have learned in my classes into the real world. It was an amazing experience to understand certain child behaviors based on knowledge I have obtained, and seeing it come to life. The education requirements I believed I needed were knowing how to manage a classroom of kids. It was my first time managing a large group of kids, so it was overwhelming at first. I tried over-coming this fear by letting my supervisor know I wanted to improve my leadership skills, which they gladly did.
Ants in the Pants Production revolved heavily on theater and performances. This aspect of the internship was something I was completely new to. While this site gave me the opportunity to try something different, I don't align myself with this path for my future career. The greatness of this site was that it accepted many people of different backgrounds and lives. I believe one skill/experience one needs is knowing how to motivate people and have a safe space for people to express themselves creatively. Also, knowing how to communicate with others with compassion and understanding.
A piece of advice I would give to incoming interns would be to not be afraid of speaking up whenever they want to be creative. The supervisors at Ants in the Pants encourage it a lot and are open-minded to many different ideas. Also, to not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. It was a fun experience, so go all in!
