Summer Interns Hayden, Julia and Emma

For the last three years Convergence has participated in the TC Williams High School Senior Experience. Each year seniors spend three weeks with us as interns. This experience has led to our development of ongoing internships for young people.

Our program includes exposure to all aspects of running a multidisciplinary arts center as well as an individualized component where the intern is invited to develop a creative project for Convergence. In addition to participating in our day to day life, the intern is given a mentor to work with in researching, budgeting, planning and developing their project. Some projects are then implemented.

Most recently, Emma Bartley, Julia Beiro and Hayden Arp developed projects to create a quarterly magazine for Convergence, a bi-annual CD featuring musicians who record and perform in the Lab and a strategy to use more social media to connect with a larger audience. These projects from fresh minds help Convergence be more aware of the needs and resources in our community. Below are thoughts from Hayden and Emma on their experience as well as photos from the summer.

Hayden Arp
Over the past three weeks I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the freedom and friendliness shown to me by the Convergence crew. It has been quite the gift to work with such lovely people, and in such a small group. The benefits of this size have resonated throughout my experience, from the casual chats with Lisa about our weekends, to the knowledge that my work may actually be implemented in the near future. Over the three weeks I spent a large amount of my time working on a personal project. The project was of my design (thanks to Lisa’s flexibility and openness), and, while this freedom carried a lot of responsibility, I found it extremely exciting. By working on something I personally cared about, I became both passionate and deeply involved in what I was doing, and I think it came out pretty well in the end. Working a concert was another highlight for me. Dan is above all else passionate about what he does, and seeing every step that goes into putting on a show (or, in our case, a music festival) was very enriching. I also have to say that while it was in no way mandatory, I really enjoyed daily prayer and observing how the Convergence community ties creativity and faith together.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of my experience at Convergence has been the friendly and welcoming attitudes of the staff, and the overall warm atmosphere. From the first day I felt I was part of the team, and that continued through all three weeks. We went out to lunch, would work in the same room, and joked often.
Now that we’re hitting a close, I feel confident in saying I’ve learned a lot, both about Convergence and how work flows here, but about how I function in a work environment. It has been a lovely three weeks, and I thank Lisa, Dan, Jay, Christina, and Pam for making it so wonderful.

Hayden is currently studying music at Oberlin Conservatory.

Emma Bartley

I enjoyed my experience so much that I plan on continuing to volunteer this summer, particularly to help get my magazine project off the ground. I am so grateful for all that I have learned in just three weeks and am absolutely thrilled to see how I can help this community grow in the future.

When I first looked into an internship at Convergence on the recommendation of a friend, I knew next to nothing about the community or its mission, other than that it was in some way involved in the arts. What I found when I began my internship was that Convergence is a welcoming, creative community filled with people who truly care about the facilitation of the arts. On the first day, the staff showed immediate interest in what I and the other interns were passionate about, so as to delegate projects and tasks that would be most directly related to what we were interested in. After explaining my participation in the literary and arts magazine at my own high school as well as my interest in writing, the Convergence staff had me write press releases and work with InDesign to create a brochure for the upcoming event, Fest Too. Besides these projects, I was also exposed to tasks that were somewhat out of my comfort zone, but interesting and fun nonetheless. I helped organize and run shows at The Lab, work with social media, and even create some artwork to be displayed at Fest Too!

Perhaps the most rewarding task that I undertook while at my internship was an individualized research project. My project, which I was given the freedom to design myself, was to create a bi-annual magazine that would display work from Convergence-affiliated artists as well as describe the numerous events occurring within the community, and would include a staff of high school students passionate about the arts. In this way, the magazine would not only help Convergence gain publicity within the surrounding area, but it would also give back to the community by providing young adults with experience in arts and communication.
My experience at Convergence was, and continues to be, incredibly rewarding. During my internship, there was not a minute of the workday that I felt I was wasting my time or getting in the way. The staff always gave me meaningful and interesting projects that I knew were helping promote the Convergence community. Even though I am now living in D.C. for school, I continue to come back and remain involved with Convergence and The Lab whenever I possibly can.

Emma Bartley is currently studying Literature at American University.