A Tri-c Jazz-Fest Internship Experience

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A Tri-c Jazz-Fest Internship Experience  

The on-campus internship provided for students is an amazing and life-improving resource. As an international student, it is against the law based on my visa restrictions to work off campus. However, thanks to the internship program at Cuyahoga community college, I can work for hundred hours per semester on campus. During the spring semester, I had the opportunity to intern with Tri-c Jazz Fest. The position was not exactly in line with my academic career regardless, I got the opportunity to learn new skills, in the process gain a new appreciation for the genre, which is Jazz music.  

In the course of my internship, I worked with the production manager, in setting up the Jazz Fest event, and for the first time, I had an experience of what goes on in the pre-production and post-production of concert events. There is a lot of hard work that is needed to make sure that event goes on seamlessly. These include brainstorming ideas of how the event should flow, which we did in our weekly meetings. We had to come up with posters to ensure proper navigation for eventgoers.  

I also got to attend Master classes where some prolific and famous jazz artists, such as Wynton Marsalis and Terence Blanchard, came in to share their life experiences and method of composition. After each master class, I would give out questions to the attendee, who are mostly music students, to share their thoughts on how impactful the master class was to them or what they thought about the master class.  

It was an amazing experience. My Boss Mr. William Horachek who had experience working with superstars like Janet Jackson was very patient with me. He treated me with grace whenever I made a mistake knowing full well that it was an internship position. Meaning I was not expected to be a professional. The good thing was that I had a safe environment to learn from my mistakes without harsh criticism as opposed to what it would be like working a real job. Gradually my confidence built up.

I became better at communication. According to the Tri-c website, “Internships are currently non-credit courses and may provide students with compensation in the form of wages or salaries, stipends, or scholarships. Students have the opportunity to build their resumes through internship experiences. Students must register for the non-credit internship course. Contact the Career Center staff to do this. One internship course is equivalent to 100 hours of relevant work. Internships may be paid or unpaid. Students who prepare with workshops and one-on-one coaching appointments increase their likelihood of securing a relevant internship. Qualifications include: 

  • Minimum 2.0 GPA 
  • Completion of at least 12 credit hours 
  • A pass/no pass will be assigned at the end of 100 hours 

The internship may not pay well, but it is an opportunity to gain experience in your field of study with highly skilled professionals and be versatile.  

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