Internships and apprenticeships are a time-honored rite of passage in many industries. We’ve asked some brilliant folks to share some of the most important lessons they learned during these early experiences in their career.
Ansley Campbell
One of the settings I worked in during my internship over a decade ago was a drug court program in Appalachia. I had little personal or professional experience with substance abuse/addiction at that time. I had anxieties and preconceived ideas about what working in addiction would be like from what society had taught me (they have moral failings, they’re selfish). At the time I had little desire to work in addiction long term. That year I discovered so much about how addiction is a disease, a family illness, a broader systemic problem, and the importance of resources and access to quality mental health and addiction care for all. Read more>>
Bryan Lindsay
During my apprenticeship I’ll in the south of France, in the charming town of St. Sebastian, I worked at a hotel-restaurant called Les Viscos. Assigned to the fish station during dinner service, I quickly discovered that even the smallest details in cooking can have a significant impact on the final dish. Read more>>
Jazmyn Nobles
The process to become a licensed therapist is hard. In Texas, you have to complete 3,000 hours to become licensed, and 1,500 of those hours must be direct client work. I was off to a great start. I began as a Master’s Level Intern at a private practice, learning the ropes of balancing client care, paperwork, and professional development. I eventually became an associate therapist and felt like I was building strong momentum toward licensure. Then life shifted. I became a mom, and everything I thought I knew about pacing myself and prioritizing my goals had to change. I pressed pause on my hours to focus on my child, and while it was the best decision for my family, it was also hard to watch my peers continue on while I felt like I was standing still. Coming back was not easy. Read more>>
Neil Keeling
When I began as an apprentice, the tattoo industry was a very different place. The demands were intense—often the kind that would make a new artist today buckle under the pressure. There were nights I’d stay long after closing, not because I had to, but because I needed to prove I belonged. Sometimes that meant keeping up with the crew during late nights out and still showing up the next day ready to work, even if I was running on nothing but determination. Other times, it meant scrubbing the shop from top to bottom without a cent of pay. Looking back, I’m grateful for those experiences—they instilled in me a deep respect for the craft and the understanding that, in this world, you earn your place Read more>>
Robert John Malone
What I have come to notice is sometimes in life you will have to pull your own strings and other times you have to learn when to go with the flow, it simply takes time and experience to gain wisdom to learn which mode is best for any given season in life. While attending audio engineering school at SAE in Amsterdam, NL in 2001 I had come across an article about a DJ/Producer that I was following at the time named Adam Freeland and found out that he had a residency at a world renowned nightclub known as FABRIC in London. Read more>>
Firas Masri
I worked in my family’s restaurant during high school weekends / college breaks. It taught me the value of hard work and the pleasure of sharing good food with valued guests.,I traveled the world during my career in foreign affairs; however my heart and passion is creating beautiful food. I decided it was time to take the helm and integrate more technology into the menu and social media. We have always received great word of mouth reviews, referrals. I wanted to get the word out about our great quality and showcase our product on a larger format. This has allowed our name and business to gain new guests. Read more>>