My Beam Internship: Endy
Hi everyone! My name is Endy, and I have been working with Beam Center for almost a year. I’ve spent the last six months working as the Communications Intern. As we wrap up summer here at Beam, I wanted to talk about my experience at Beam and its importance to me.
My first time working with Beam Center wasn’t even really with Beam. I was placed to work at a high school that has worked with the organization before. It was during summer, and I didn’t know anyone at Beam yet. Because of this summer experience, my connection with Beam was established.
2021 Work, Learn and Grow Apprenticeship Cohort
Going into the school year, I started an Apprenticeship with Beam in October 2021 as part of the Work, Learn, Grow program through the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). After some time, we got to choose where we wanted to work for the internship portion of the program, and I chose Communications…and somehow I was the only one who chose it. I thought I made a bad decision, because no one else chose that team. I did talk to Zélie about what the Communications does and I enjoyed it, but I was still a little on edge about my choice.
When I got to the office in Red Hook for my first day, I came away pretty happy. I first met Zélie, who I quickly established a connection with. She was nice and had a friendly vibe, which is kinda opposite of how I would describe myself. She described what my job was as an intern at Beam and what I would do, which is more than what I thought I would be doing. I was a bit overwhelmed, but I couldn’t show it because I didn’t want to show it to my boss on my first day. Next I met Mukta and Yemi, two amazing people who work closely with Zélie, and it was great to meet them. I would describe myself as a shy, non-social person, but everyone at Beam gave off a comfortable energy that anyone can walk into.
Mukta and Zélie helped with my skills as a photographer, and Yemi introduced me to the basics of streaming and editing videos. During my internship, I had the opportunity to capture images of the work being done at various Beam Center sites, including schools, Governors Island, and Beam Camp in New Hampshire. I learned a lot about myself and what I liked to do in the media and communications industry. I realized how much I liked editing videos and seeing it come together. I learned to work on videos and photography, and I even worked on something I never thought I would work on: TikTok. I - the non-TikToker - made Tik Tok. It was my idea of course, but still, I did it. The videos were how-to segments and not me dancing, so I was content with that approach. Through all of this, trying these new things was good for me. I learned new things, and I’m glad I got to experience them.
In the middle of all of this, I met Brian Cohen. Brian is not at all who I expected him to be. I thought he was a serious, get stuff done guy, as Beam is a big operation. I expected him to be just as big, but guess what - he isn’t. Now, there are times he is that serious, business leader. Everytime I came in, he was on a Zoom meeting with his big headphones, and he was making business moves as Mr.Cohen. Then he takes those headphones off and says “Hey, I’m Brian.” He turned into this high energy, charismatic person who looks like he should be following a different calling, maybe as an energetic Real Estate Agent or something (you should check out his Twitter account, he’s hilarious). Brian is a great person with a great heart, and what he has done with Beam has been incredible.
Beam Staff, Branching Out With Beam
I saw this the most during Branching Out with Beam, Beam’s spring gala, where I saw everyone he has helped over the years since Beam started. The people he's impacted ranged from adults who were at Beam when they were younger to current and previous staff, and even some young people who were currently at Beam like me. This event really showed me how important Beam is to a lot of people, and it made me realize how important it was to me.
My time working with Beam has been great, and I appreciate all the people I have worked with while here. I have learned many skills and learned a lot about myself while being a part of Beam.
I went to different places and events to take pictures for Beam, and it was cool to see the impact the organization has had across NYC at schools - from elementary to high school - in buildings that have rich histories, and most importantly to the young people who Beam reaches out to and helps.
If there’s anything that Beam does well, it is their ability to bring out the creativity in the young people who may be too shy to show their creativity or some who lack the experience of creating something themselves. As I conclude my internship with Beam Center, I would like to thank everyone that I have met here, and I hope to continue to be a part of Beam in the future.
