I have grown so much throughout these past weeks and really began to understood the power of presentation. As an artist, representation is key, and thanks to my externship, I have become equipped with the ways to represent myself in a professional environment. Learning to establish myself with clientele was a great experience for me to understand the power of representation, and I have grown to appreciate it greatly. This externship has caused to view my future plans in a strategic yet intriguing manner. I will strive to establish myself in the creative arts industry will diving into the world of business and marketing to expand on my representation skills. I definitely got a head start to understand what I wanted to do in life which is art, but in a professional manner. In my next four to six years I definitely would strive to intern at a branding agency to learn to brand myself as a creative. My mentors really pushed me to understand the listening, and taught me a broad array of things from music arrangement to stage management, and we’ve grown to become very close in such a short period of time. I found out many of my co workers and I have similar hobbies from listening to oldies music like stevie wonder and music production. Every one of my co workers has taught me at least one thing , from music arrangement, to filing, to stage management and to even communication skills. My mentor Ms. Alma and I grew closer as the internship progressed and she’s taught me many wonderful things and opened my eyes to new opportunities. I am very grateful for this externship and the bonds I made through out my time here. I have come to love collaboration on a higher spectrum and formed relationships that I will remember forever. I plan to visit the venue after I graduate and work to learn how to set up and establish an open mic event at UCSD so future students can get a chance to express their creativity.
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As a part of the queen bee's staff, I worked to help the venue curate and prepare every event. I had no job specifically, I was working to keep the venue running. One day I could be helping with the sound board and stage management, and the next I could be crafting decorations. This taught me to take great pride in every job I was doing, and provided me with a sense of work ethic and humility. I was extremely please whenever I did the smallest things and biggest things, I was happy to be a part of a community that provided the neighborhood and everyone in San Diego with a chance to share their creative expression. I learned so many things and met so many people. I've become equipped with many tools throughout the externship from the connections I made with Audio Engineers, Dj's and event coordinators. I've also become a very good performer throughout my time here, and I am so happy to carry the energy from this environment onto other creative environments.
This externship has helped me to develop a higher appreciation for the opportunities available during college such as networking, and communication skills apposed to the ones attained after. I honestly believe that throughout my next four to six years, I would become a polished version of who I am today, and will have attained the tools I need to succeed in my future profession. Many of my co workers (mentors) have often mentioned how college helped them develop their networking and communication skills, and allowed them to succeed in their fields. For example, one of my mentor has attended college for photography in San Francisco, and it provided him with the tools he needed to further his artistic journey. My co workers have taught me amazing things from networking, conversation skills, and offered me a chance to learn about the preparation that goes behind every event. I've watched how each of them carries themselves in a conversation to show professionalism and still express their identity. Most of the clientele we get come from networking and friends who enjoyed the venue and wanted to share with their friends. My co workers and I have been able to work at events that became tradition to people such as Lyrical Exchange, and we've been very blessed to meet every one that particpates and attends those event.
Throughout my time, I've had the chance to establish my self as an entity in the venue. Most of my days I will be working independently, or mentored by one of my co- workers to understand the responsibility and work behind running a venue. Some days there will be a lot of work to do, and I'll find myself pushing myself to help everyone to get the venue ready for events. I don't have one mentor, I work with all my co workers and try to learn as much as I can about everything around, and I've come to learn that I can seek knowledge everywhere. Its like a family here, no one feels like an outcast, and everyone is vital for the venue to run effectively, and to main the positive atmosphere around the environment. I love coming to the venue and interacting with various guests and networking, its taught me a lot about my communication skills, and getting me prepared for the outside world. ( Here are a few photos of the event we've curated at the North Park Art festival.) I worked and oversaw the sound board and the bands that performed outside, and got an in depth look at the preparation audio engineers prepare before, after, and during an event.
Today, I met another co worker, her name was Gina. We both spent the day preparing the venue for the Punk band event. We mostly stayed at the office for the remainder of the day, receiving calls, and preparing for the festival on Saturday. (Fun fact, when you are at a Punk band show, you have to wear earplugs JUST to listen to the music.) They performed various cover songs, and some bands even did original records that composed, and wrote together. I wish I could post a video, but if you've ever been to a Punk show, you would know how loud it is.
I made the decision to transition towards a different internship to spend the next few weeks to grow in. My mentor and I spoke about my transition, and we ended on a very positive note. My Externship advisor and discussed how I will be transitioning to working at Queen Bee's Art and cultural center. Although I will no longer be working on the project with my previous mentor, I've found that learning about running a cultural center very intriguing to me. The process of setting up the venue prior to specific events is stressful and tedious yet rewarding when the event flourishes. The minute I came to the venue I was treated with respect and as a member of the Queen Bee's family. My mentor, Ms. Alma Rodriguez introduced me to the staff, and the work that goes into the art center. Everyone there is often working on many tasks, and the goal is to have the venue ready for the guests, and create a welcoming and positive environment to maintain the culture throughout the North Park area. Today, we had to set up for the Tuesday open mic event known as "Lyrical Exchange." My co workers and I came in early and prepared the venue. My co worker Ukeim showed how to properly set up the stage, lights, and the sound board to prepare for the open mic performances. I ended up performing and it was a lot of fun. I got the chance to polish up my stage presence, and met/networked with a few performers and ended up becoming friends with one.
Honestly, I didn't have any questions on what were doing during, because we always had something to do. Sometimes we would visit various music events whether it'd be to network, or learn about the music industry. Sometimes we would produce, or watch our mentor mix, master and work with clientele to produce a sound that they would be proud of you. The entire process reminded me of music class with Mike, and how we did something different and creative everyday. A couple nights ago our mentor invited us to a Jazz listening event, where we watched various creative people perform Jazz and blues , and show how creative it was. I had the opportunity to perform a hip hop inspired record with a blues band. The drummer knew what sound I needed to perform and we did great. I had a lot of fun visiting the Jazz and it definitely intrigued me to dig deep through its catalog. The mission of our organization is to work with clientele to help them access/reach the sound they've always wanted to reach, and create a music hub for artist in San Diego. My Externship teacher could come by to visit the site anytime between 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM to get an idea of the creative environment. Here's a screenshot of a secret project I'm working on with my mentor and Ian.
The thing that struck me the most was how much soul lived in the studio. People were always coming in, and brought years of experience with them through conversation, and the will to listen. I was working with Jay, and Ian to help record and engineer records for clients who came to the studio. Ian and I got along very well, and so did I and Jay. We all understood that we came here to produce and bring out the best in all of us, and our companionship was built on trust, respect, and the passion for music. My original plan was to come in and learn how to engineer audio. However, my mindset changed when my mentor offered an opportunity to learn about production and radio on top of audio engineering. I was ecstatic to learn about production and it excited me about the externship even more. I am excited to focus and learn, and listen more then speak. My only worry is that I won't have enough time to learn everything. However, I'll spend extra time in and outside the studio to get a better understanding of the workplace and the work experience.
My Externship is going to be about learning Audio Engineering and Radio. I will be working alongside my mentor Justin Watson to understand the process of Mixing, Mastering, and Production in his Studio. My internship is going to be a mix of studio and radio time throughout the course of the next four weeks. I will be constantly checking in with my mentor to show my growth throughout the course of the internship, and have him critique and suggest improvements to my production work. I will be spending a portion of my time at the San Diego Jazz 88.3 FM radio station at city college to learn all about radio and understand the way it influences culture. I
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