For college students, the word “intern” comes along with a host of connotations. The interns get the coffee. They answer the phone. They are assigned the menial tasks that tenured members of a company or organization are much too busy to be troubled with, often for little or no pay, in the hopes of gaining experience in their discipline.
But while participating in the Boston University Study Abroad Auckland Internship Program, I have found that an intern can be more than the bottom rung of a corporate ladder.
I arrived in Auckland with 47 other students, 36 of whom started internships at the beginning of March. Interns range from those in the fields of psychology to political science, holding positions at various hotels, nonprofits, startups and other companies.
Recently, I started my internship with The New Zealand Herald’s Element Magazine, a monthly publication that focuses on sustainability and lifestyle. On my first day, I was delighted when I was assigned a 400-word story on a woman who was inspired to invent a brand of organic dark chocolate after visiting fair-trade cooperatives in the Dominican Republic. It was a welcome relief from all of the brutal stabbings, shootings and fatal car accidents I was asked to cover while working the night shift on the City Desk at The Boston Globe the previous semester. And when 5 p.m. on Friday rolled around, I was shocked when my boss asked me if I wanted a beer before heading out for the weekend.
But my experience is only one of 36, so I decided to speak with some of my fellow students participating in the internship program. The general consensus? We are pleased to be doing work that is valuable for our organizations and provides us with meaningful real-world experience.
Here’s a taste of what Spring 2015 Auckland Internship Program students are up to:
School of Hospitality senior Liz Jones, Hospitality Major
Jones has spent the past few weeks working for the New Zealand Comedy Trust to help stage their annual Comedy Festival, which takes place in Auckland and Wellington beginning in mid-April.
“Everyone there is incredibly smart and incredibly good at their job, but at the same time, it’s very welcoming and funny,” she said.
The festival has a staff of around seven people split into two groups focusing on marketing and operations. Jones is working on digital promotions and media releases for the marketing team but will be helping out with operations as the festival approaches.
She is ecstatic to be working for an organization where she can build a portfolio, expand her skill set to include marketing and get a feel for New Zealand’s festival scene.
“I’m given a real experience,” Jones said. “I’m treated as part of the team. I’m treated as someone who’s valuable, and I’m given real work.”
And, of course, she’ll have ample opportunity to have a laugh herself at one of the festival’s hundreds of shows at venues across Auckland, featuring performers ranging from internationally renowned names to local favorites.
College of Fine Arts senior Brandon Waltz, Acting Major
Waltz is interning with Auckland-based production company Candlelit Pictures, which makes music videos for local artists.
Candlelit Pictures, staffed by 15 people, operates out of a large house in the Auckland suburb of Epsom.
“They all live under the same roof,” he said. “It’s a creative collective.”
Waltz has felt himself a vital part of the corporation since day one, when his coworkers involved him in every part of the creative process, from writing a new mission statement for the company to redesigning its website.
“They utilize my cultural perspective and my unique point of view in order to benefit themselves and also to benefit me,” he said. “I feel like these are lasting connections that I’m going to have for a long time.”
Candlelit Pictures differs from other production companies Waltz has worked with in the United States because entertainment isn’t about the money for them, he said.
“It’s very easy to sell out in the industry, to take the money where it comes and sacrifice your art, but these people believe deep down to their core that the blood, sweat and tears that go into making a piece of art, a video, is essential,” Waltz said.
College of Arts and Sciences junior Greg Jones, Environmental Analysis & Policy Major
Jones is working for EnviroSpec, an organization that specializes in sustainable design consultation.
The company, which consists of two employees and two interns, rates its clients’ building plans on New Zealand’s Homestar certification system — similar to the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification system — and offers suggestions for more eco-friendly and energy-efficient construction.
Jones’s job is to assess blueprints when they first come in from clients for the efficiency of the building’s heating and cooling systems, levels of energy consumption and eco-safety of raw materials.
“When you think ‘internship’ in the states, you think, ‘I need something to stuff my resume with so I can get a real job later,’” Jones said. “I actually feel like I have real responsibility. It’s intense and overwhelming sometimes, but that makes it all the more rewarding.”
Before his first day at EnviroSpec, Jones’s bosses took him surfing to have their first “board meeting.” The company staff is approachable and fun, he said, but at the same time, they know when it’s time to work.
“It’s a work-hard, play-hard environment,” he said.
