Taking Risks

This time last year I was graduating Central Michigan University and accepted an opportunity to intern in Israel for the summer through Onward Israel: Arts and Culture. This organization paired me with Bar Kayma for Culture, Art, Music, and Peace as a multimedia intern. Bar Kayma is a nonprofit (NGO) that “fosters a creative community and encourages utilization of technology, humor, and crowdsourcing to form independent and innovative artistic and cultural enterprises. By connecting artists, cultural institutions and the public, we work to create a diverse, accessible cultural playground open to all residents and visitors of Jerusalem,” quoted from their website. With them, under the guidance of my advisors Noam and Lidia, I primarily worked in photography and videography. Noam was actually an editor for TV news and taught me a lot in post-production editing. This experience also taught me how to go and look for assignments on my own and speak up when I want to do something. So I moved, across the world, to Jerusalem, Israel and I took a huge risk with this internship experience. Did it pay off, I don’t know yet, but I won’t regret doing it and I cherish what I learned.

This year, 2019, I took a risk AGAIN. Instead of across the world, it is a smaller distance from home, but I moved to the other side of the state for…wait for it….AN INTERNSHIP (unpaid). I currently am in Grand Rapids, Mich. and have no idea what to expect for the next 6-months. I am NOT doing this for college credit but instead in hopes of BETTERING myself and my skill set, to network and HOPEFULLY to find a full-time job. I accepted an internship with the Grand Rapids Sport and Social Club (GRSSC) as their digital communications coordinator. Do I fully know what I will be doing with this position, honestly not a clue, but I do know that this is another chance for growth (personally and professionally).

Taking risks in life is scary, believe me, I know. I also know that taking risks, going through an open door of opportunity unsure where it will lead you is also one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Whether that risk is as simple as talking to a stranger at a bar or as scary as moving to a new city, on your own, not knowing anyone, they impact you for the better. I hope that this internship with GRSCC brings me networking opportunities (that are actually beneficial, networking in another country is hard) and leads me to the big J-O-B that all post-grads look for. Life is about taking risks and I will post more on my journey here in Grand Rapids (well technically I live in Kentwood), so follow along and let’s see where this leads.