My second internship was with Maui Onstage as a counselor for their youth summer camps. My internship lasted all of June, and I worked Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.. On Fridays, the students would put on a performance in the evenings, so I would work until 7:00 p.m. on Fridays. My mentor was Ms. Jessica Nelson, and I worked with the other teachers Ms. Tina, Ms. Rachel, and Shandan. Each day, the other counselors and I would start our mornings off by checking in the students. The students ranged from the ages of 6-12. After everyone checked in, the teachers would lead the students in theater games, and vocal warm-ups. At 10:30 a.m., the students were broken up into 3 teams, and rotated to three different activities. The activities were crafts, team cheers or theater games, and dance. Each team would create their own team cheer that would be performed at the showcase, and depending on the week’s theme, they would perform a dance and song too. At 12:30 p.m., us counselors would select a theater game to lead the campers in, and afterward the students would head into their play groups. The plays were organized based on age. I was an assistant for the older students’ play, and would help stage the students, and be on book in case they forgot their lines. At 1:45 p.m., the students were given an afternoon break, and my job was to continue watching the students to make sure they stayed within the boundaries. At 2:00 p.m., the students went back into their play groups, and would continue rehearsing until 2:40 p.m.. At this point, all of us gathered for announcements, and we would play one more game, before dismissing the students at 3:00 p.m. I would leave around 3:10 p.m. from my internship, and if it was Friday, I would return around 5:00 p.m.
When I started my internship with Maui Onstage, I set out to expand my skill set as an actor. My number one takeaway from my experience is how rewarding it feels to be a part of a team. Most of the time, I prefer to work independently because I can get things done on my own terms, but in life, I’m also going to have to work in teams. I had a wonderful experience being a part of this team, and me and my fellow interns are all friends from acting class so that made the experience more fun.
My personal internship goal was to expand my tool kit as an actor, and I feel like I accomplished that goal. Each week, I was learning about a different theater game or vocal warm up that I hadn’t known about before. On top of that, us interns would learn the dances, and songs for each week so that the students had a guide to follow in case they forgot the lyrics or steps.
Managing the unruly students was one of my greatest challenges. Most of the time, the students were good about following directions, but sometimes they would get a bit too pushy, and we would have to remind them what the rules were. During the second week of camp, one of the boys was a bit too aggressive when it came to playing games. At one point, the students asked us counselors to play a game of Keep Away with them, and they wanted to play counselors versus campers. The students were good sports throughout the whole game, but as soon as a counselor would grab the ball, the boy would try and pry it out of our hands using all his strength. At one point, I caught the ball, and was about to pass it to another counselor when the boy jumped on my back, and flung all his weight on me that I had to slide on my knees to keep from running into a bench. When I stood back up, my whole knee was covered in dirt, and was bleeding. For the rest of my internship, my knee was raw and it stung when I bent it. I still have a mark from where I fell. I wasn’t angry at the student, but the teachers kept a close eye on him after that, and would even tell him that he had to finish his entire snack before playing with any of the yard toys because we soon realized that he wasn’t finishing or eating his snack because he wanted to play. However, the unruly students were always disciplined by a teacher, and they would rarely act up after being talked to.
The most valuable aspect of this experience was the camaraderie amongst us interns, and the relationships that we established with the students. Each morning, all of us interns would set out the students name tags, and afterward we would sit on picnic benches, talk stories, and sing songs until the students arrived. During one of the camps, one of the teachers had enrolled her daughter in the camp, and so when the interns would set out the name tags, we let her help out. She would then sit at the picnic tables with us, and we would play with her. There were particular students that us interns would bond with. For example, I had a handful of girls take a liking to me. Some of them had recognized me from the play The Wizard of Oz: The Deleted Scene so they liked to look at the pictures from the play. Two of them were particularly fond of my apple watch, and they liked to connect it to my phone so they could use the camera from my watch. All of us interns and teachers collectively liked one of the younger campers because she was a ray of sunshine. She was always happy, and excited to do everything. During the breaks, she would take out different colored bean bags, and would explain what color ice cream they were. Needless to say, the relationships that I made during the camp were some of the highlights of my internship.
When I started my internship with Maui Onstage, I set out to expand my skill set as an actor. My number one takeaway from my experience is how rewarding it feels to be a part of a team. Most of the time, I prefer to work independently because I can get things done on my own terms, but in life, I’m also going to have to work in teams. I had a wonderful experience being a part of this team, and me and my fellow interns are all friends from acting class so that made the experience more fun.
My personal internship goal was to expand my tool kit as an actor, and I feel like I accomplished that goal. Each week, I was learning about a different theater game or vocal warm up that I hadn’t known about before. On top of that, us interns would learn the dances, and songs for each week so that the students had a guide to follow in case they forgot the lyrics or steps.
Managing the unruly students was one of my greatest challenges. Most of the time, the students were good about following directions, but sometimes they would get a bit too pushy, and we would have to remind them what the rules were. During the second week of camp, one of the boys was a bit too aggressive when it came to playing games. At one point, the students asked us counselors to play a game of Keep Away with them, and they wanted to play counselors versus campers. The students were good sports throughout the whole game, but as soon as a counselor would grab the ball, the boy would try and pry it out of our hands using all his strength. At one point, I caught the ball, and was about to pass it to another counselor when the boy jumped on my back, and flung all his weight on me that I had to slide on my knees to keep from running into a bench. When I stood back up, my whole knee was covered in dirt, and was bleeding. For the rest of my internship, my knee was raw and it stung when I bent it. I still have a mark from where I fell. I wasn’t angry at the student, but the teachers kept a close eye on him after that, and would even tell him that he had to finish his entire snack before playing with any of the yard toys because we soon realized that he wasn’t finishing or eating his snack because he wanted to play. However, the unruly students were always disciplined by a teacher, and they would rarely act up after being talked to.
The most valuable aspect of this experience was the camaraderie amongst us interns, and the relationships that we established with the students. Each morning, all of us interns would set out the students name tags, and afterward we would sit on picnic benches, talk stories, and sing songs until the students arrived. During one of the camps, one of the teachers had enrolled her daughter in the camp, and so when the interns would set out the name tags, we let her help out. She would then sit at the picnic tables with us, and we would play with her. There were particular students that us interns would bond with. For example, I had a handful of girls take a liking to me. Some of them had recognized me from the play The Wizard of Oz: The Deleted Scene so they liked to look at the pictures from the play. Two of them were particularly fond of my apple watch, and they liked to connect it to my phone so they could use the camera from my watch. All of us interns and teachers collectively liked one of the younger campers because she was a ray of sunshine. She was always happy, and excited to do everything. During the breaks, she would take out different colored bean bags, and would explain what color ice cream they were. Needless to say, the relationships that I made during the camp were some of the highlights of my internship.