Internships and apprenticeships, when done right, give interns and apprentices life long lessons. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, these opportunities aren’t accessible to many and so we wanted to invite folks who have had these experiences to share some of the lessons they’ve learned.

Chuck D. Corbin

I’m still an apprentice, and if you’re an artist you always should be. In this vast world of expression, and a sea of mediums, you’ll learn that there’s multiple ways to paint a picture. Yet the methods used to market the product which is the picture, must be very particular to the target demographic. My most recent apprenticeship actually came from a partnership believe it or not. Me being the young, talented, ambitious type…met with the old school, statistic driven brick wall. Read more>>

Ed Rudolph

When I first got out of school, I started working as a hands-on assistant to one of my teachers, who was a full time photographer with many years of experience. Working for him gave me a ton of valuable experience in the day to day operations of running a photo studio, working with clients, professional expectations, etc. But I also learned just as much about “what not to do”. I noticed areas where he cut corners, sold himself short, did things in inefficient ways, and treated others with a lack of respect. Read more>>

Dominique Drake

So, my first internship was at a law firm in Atlanta. I worked there my freshman and sophomore year of high school during the summer. My shift mainly consisted of me answering the phone, greeting guests, and organizing paperwork. One of my favorite memories about working there was having a Blackberry! Those phones were super in style back then – if you know, you know. Read more>>

Haley Kelly

Each year in college I did an internship in some avenue of event planning – I tried government, non-profit and then weddings. During my wedding internship I lived in San Francisco and learned very valuable lessons that I still remember today. The first is the value that all of the small “jobs” when it comes to client relationships are so important. Read more>>

Jasmine Lorraine Mack

I’ve done two different experiences that have helped me in multiple facets of design and learning how to be my own negotiator which can be hard. The first “internship” I ever got was a children’s book gig. Now, I put internship in quotes because it wasn’t really an internship; it was a freelance job that was set up by my school. In that situation, my learning experience unfortunately came with a lot of negative aspects. Read more>>

Doyinsola Oluwatosin

My final semester in college is a perfect scenario to your question. Since I majored in Health Care Management, I was required to enroll in an internship program. This involved finding potential organizations that embraced or accepted interns. As a result, instead of attending classes, I was saddled with the responsibility of finding a place to intern. Read more>>