Each week The Gem Project staff allows interns to document their experiences about what they’ve learned throughout their volunteer experience. We have chosen to share their work with our organization with you. It gives you, our supporters, an opportunity to see what we’re working on weekly. Meet Bunmi, see what she says here: “When I think of an internship I think of some young person assigned trivial tasks, such as fetching coffee and stapling a 1,001 copies, just so the intern can build a professional relationship in their respected career, but this has been far from my experience interning at the Gem Project.
To be an intern at the Gem Project means you are going to community BBQ’s hosted at the Newark’s Teachers Union by The Coalition of Effective Newark Public Schools— to hear community leaders speak about education.
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| Senator Ronald L. Rice |
Interning with the Gem Project means you are going to New York to go kayaking in the Hudson river, and eating at a sleek restaurant called the Sea, directly below the train tracks of Highline Park.
I have designed a t-shirt logo for Councilmen Sharif’s Youth Ambassador Program, an opportunity that a professional would probably get paid to do, but I was afforded this opportunity because of the connections that exist at the Gem Project. My final design wasn’t selected but I learned a great deal from it.
Here was my submission below:
 The Gem project Internship thus far for me has been more than I could have ever imagined. I am discovering passions and building on skills that, I know will be necessary for me in the future.
Before the Gem Project I barely knew how to use Photoshop, and then I was assigned a task to create a T-shirt Logo for Newark’s Councilman, Councilman Sharif. I had to build on the little skills I knew on Photoshop, and teach myself how to create a presentable t-shirt design in a short amount of time, on a program I was not familiar with.
Next I went to a community BBQ in Newark hosted by the Coalition of Effective Newark Public Schools.
I heard a young high school student speak about how his school was going to be closing down in the near future, and how important it is to keep schools open.
Watching that young boy speak about such a tragic event, opened my eyes to the importance of education, and creating schools that do not fail our students.
Next, I went kayaking with Amanda on the Hudson river! Who would not love to do something like that and call it work? I ate at an aroma filled Thai restaurant for the first time and walked through an abandoned train track, which now was transformed by designers into a scenic industrial garden. It overlooked the beautiful skyline of the city.
My experience at Gem Project has been more than just an internship, it has been a blessing. Thus far I have done some amazing things with the Gem Project, and I truly cannot wait until I fulfill my next task, because I know it will be an experience to remember.
Sincerely,
Adebunmi Gbadebo
Creative Development and Marketing Intern
The Gem Project, Inc.
Adebunmi@thegemproject.org |
