As the last weeks have slid by, I have realized how far I’ve really come in this internship. My project for ADD (the Association for the Developmentally Disabled) has been to lay the foundation for the production of a short video about the rights of individuals with developmental disabilities. Rights are not something I had thought about before this internship—nor was video production—but now, finalizing a work plan and gathering together the pieces of a 40-odd page packet of work I’ve done for this project…well, I figure I’m not quite the dunce I was at the beginning of this whole thing.

Over the last few weeks, my work has gained momentum. After weeks of research— made up of lots of self-assigned reading and meandering internet searches, and, more importantly, a two week visit to ADD’s programs to meet individuals and staff—things finally started to come together. I finished a fifth or sixth draft of the script, did a reading of the script for my boss with the help of a couple of very obliging and kind coworkers, and met with several production companies (again, with the gracious assistance of a wonderful coworker and mentor). I think that sitting in front of professional producers to present my work and ADD’s vision was one of the more frightening and empowering moments of my internship.

I’ve also gotten the chance to sit in on senior staff meetings, which, despite their length (four hours a pop,) always revealed new facts and mini-crises in the organization. Plus, who at my age gets that kind of chance to watch the leadership of a successful organization interact?

But I also got the chance to do more than just watch at these meetings. As the department heads would go around the table to report news and progress in their divisions, the CEO, to whom I reported directly, would always take the time to ask me to report too—even though, he said, I didn’t quite have my own department. It was a fantastic (and simple and intimidating and kind) gesture that made me feel like the work I did mattered, that taking five minutes to listen to my project’s progress was worthwhile, that having the intern sit in on a leadership meeting was not an intrusion, but rather a meaningful inclusion.

So thank you—to the Columbus Foundation, for facilitating and sponsoring these fellowships, but moreover to ADD, for giving me an experience that was much more rewarding than I ever could have expected.

– Anne, ADD