The Final 48

Growing up, my mom and I were super into crime shows, and one of the shows we always watched together was ‘The First 48’. While that probably isn’t a show I should have been watching at six years old (thanks mom), I clearly remember that the intro always said, “their chances of solving the case are cut in half after the first 48,” or “the first 48 is just the beginning.” Now you’re probably wondering what possible relation that could have to my summer (no worries, I am getting to it!). No matter the case, no matter the episode, the intro to every show always specified how much could have in the span of 48 hours.

As I write this I realize that I have only 48 hours left with Ingenuity.

It’s hard to believe that I only have one more full week (and one day) at Ingenuity and here in Chicago. I wrote my first blog when I was just starting off and learning the ropes, and now, as I write this, I realize it is time for me to begin wrapping things up. Time really flew by! Living in Chicago has been unbelievably amazing and my time at Ingenuity has been incredibly diverse and enlightening. It is so hard for me to describe my time here because I have done more in these past few weeks than I could have ever anticipated (but I’ll try my best!).

Working on social media for an event!

One of the major things I have done this summer at Ingenuity is handled all of the social media that the organization has. When I first found out this was going to be one of my tasks, I thought ‘this should be easy; I spend a lot of time on social media as is so it will be fun!’ While the task was definitely fun at times, it was not as easy as I originally anticipated. Because Ingenuity has such a diverse audience, I often had to craft my social media posts to each targeted audience. This task, though unexpected, really taught me to pay attention to detail. If I thought I was good with little details before this summer, I must be an expert now! While it seems insignificant, phrasing and details for particular audiences is so important to making sure you get the correct message out.

Another thing I have learned this summer is to not being afraid to go to someone and tell them what you need.

Until this week, I would say I was sort of struggling with my work here at Ingenuity. Because I was working with everyone one in the office and doing different things for each person, I sort of felt lost, like I was roaming without a clear purpose or person to go to when I needed something. In addition, when I came into the office, I was given a list of tasks to complete over the summer, but because of what the tasks were, I was able to get them done fairly early within my summer. After I finally got the courage to ask for more work, I was given another task to complete, but it required me getting in contact with people and organizations outside of the office. When I reached a point where I was sort of at a standstill, I began to lose sight of my purpose.  It was difficult for me because on one level, I truly believed what I was doing was impactful and that once I heard back from others, I could continue my work.  On the other hand, I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing enough and I didn’t know how to go out and seek more work (again).

One of my many tasks at Ingenuity: helping run registration for our many events.

It’s challenging when you are an intern and want to speak to your supervisor. Don’t get me wrong, everyone I worked with at Ingenuity was more than welcoming, but because we are such a small staffed organization, there is always work that needs to be done. I felt that no matter when I would approach someone, I would be interrupting their work, which is the last thing I wanted to do. It was a hard thing to work through, I won’t lie, but I realized the more I went to people and told them what I needed, the better response I would get. My mother always told me ‘a closed mouth doesn’t get fed,’ and it’s true. Sometimes my job would require me to speak up to people who have way more seniority that I, and it was scar, but at the end of the day, it helped me more than it hindered me.

The greatest thing I think my summer with Ingenuity has taught me is that I want to work directly with people. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of administrative work that needs to be done behind the scenes so that the people who do interactional work with people can do their jobs successfully, and the behind the scenes work is just as important as the hands-on work. However, for me, I feel like working with people is where I am better suited. I spent a lot of my time in front of a computer screen and interacting with others through social media and email. While I enjoyed it for the first couple of weeks, I began to notice that I longed to have more interaction with the community around me. Whenever I was given the chance to meet with people and have face-to-face interaction. I noticed that I always felt more confident about the work I was completing when I could directly see how it was affecting others.

These are just a fraction of the lessons I’ve learned with my summer at Ingenuity. If I talked about all I have learned at Ingenuity, I could probably write a novel (okay, maybe it would be more of an essay, but you get my point).  While I am sad to know my time here is coming to an end, I look forward to seeing what the last 48 has in store for me.