Whenever a teacher or professor announced, “for this assignment, you’ll be working in groups,” I would internally (or at times, externally) groan and lament the impending onslaught of scheduling via 600 emails, navigating group dynamics, and inevitably picking up others’ slack. As an English major, I much preferred writing essays on my own time, in my own way, and with my own quality of work standards.

However, my internship with Ingenuity this summer has turned group work on its head for me. I am part of the Data and Research team, and our projects are way too big for one person to tackle on their own. Even though we are only a team of three, we bring professional contractors, advisory panel members, and art education stakeholders to join in on our work. Our giant projects all of the sudden feel manageable as everyone in the room brings valuable insight and technical skills. Projects are broken down into specific timelines, tasks are delegated, and progress is tracked. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with a room full of dedicated and talented people.

My own dedication to the Data and Research projects is not hard to muster, as I am passionate about the work Ingenuity does. As a non-profit, Ingenuity serves as a “backbone” organization for arts education in Chicago. We work as a hub for data, strategy, advocacy, and partnerships supporting more than 600 Chicago Public Schools and a similar number of community arts partners.

All of the past State of the Arts Reports and the beginnings of this years

One way we provide data to the Chicago arts education community is through the annual State of the Arts Report. My main task for the summer is to be the lead on this project. I spent hours my first week reading through the last four reports and internally geeking out that I get to have a hand on such an important document. However, my excitement was coupled with uncertainty. How was I, “just the summer intern,” supposed to analyze the numbers, establish a narrative arc to the data, write up the findings, and advise design decisions all in a couple months? Thankfully, this is a group project.

While I definitely have a lot of work on my plate, I’m not left to flounder on my own. My supervisor Steve initiated a contract with a design firm. My co-worker Tom aggregated all of our data. All three of us divided and conquered data collection and clean-up. Both of them are readily available to answer my questions and provide feedback. Our advisory panel will offer final reviews and recommendations. By the end of the summer, our report will be well on its way to publication due to our combined efforts.

Witnessing group projects in a professional setting is a whole new experience from college. Team members are here to work, (and thankfully are not bogged down with 18-credit course loads, five extracurriculars, and a part-time job). Seeing the dedication of the rest of the team encourages me to do my best. Besides, this definitely beats pulling an all-nighter to write a paper by myself.