Last month, I had the pleasure and privilege of interning at an awesome theatre company in San Francisco. It was seven weeks of ups and downs, but it was a learning experience and for that I’m grateful!

Here are Three Things I Learned:

1. Sometimes, you are just the intern. You will have to ask questions. You will be challenged. You will screw up. And you just have to deal with it. This is hard at first, because you may want so badly to take on the world (in terms of the internship), but you can’t do anything without approval first. Other times, it’s not so bad because that means less responsibility (It also means ice cream, meals, and reusable water bottles all for freeee!). You will move up the ladder!
2. Your worth as a worker is valuable no matter what. You might be an unpaid intern, but you are still a human. Everyone is. Your time and effort is worth something always. You are doing these people a huge favor just by volunteering your time to them, so make sure you are gaining something in return. Don’t let an intimidating work environment stop you from learning.
3. Theatre is hellish, but it is also wonderful. Professional theatre is just as (if not more) insane as theatre done in school. After last-minute planning, doing, and stressing, at the end of the day, the production was a huge success! Theatre requires a certain level of insanity and on-the-flyness. It is not for the easily discouraged. It is challenging, but it is worth it! The pay-off is so so so wonderful.

Even though it was seven weeks of seriously not-fun commuting from the South Bay to SF and crazy officeness, I grew more into my niche as a theatre-maker. I was able to be the production assistant for an awesome play-in-development, meet the future of theatre in the form of my fellow interns and great playwrights, and learn more about production. I’m so grateful. And I’m also exhausted.