I honestly should not have gotten the Data and Research internship with Ingenuity. I was completely under qualified. My application was a total shot in the dark; I only hoped the arts education organization in Chicago would see that I applied to every position they offered and maybe understand just how much I wanted to work for them. The internship description called for candidates who had: Familiarity with ETL tools for data warehousing (e.g., Zapier, Apatar, CloverETL, Talend, Pentaho)   Experience writing APIs   Experience designing and developing software and/or computer systems   Even after nine weeks with Ingenuity, I can’t tell you what half those words mean. Thankfully after reviewing my resume, my supervisor envisioned a different project for me — one that would teach me new skills while still utilizing my writing and research abilities. (I could write a whole other post about what I learned about applying […]

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 […]