I found out about this opportunity through an info session and through one of my professors at MICA. I sent in my resume and cover letter through their application form and a couple weeks later I was contacted by them for an interview, where we discussed the required roles and responsibilities of the intern in more detail, as well as confirming eligibility requirements and scheduling. About a week later I got an email confirming that they would like to hire me and my schedule.The Highlights Foundation is an organization under the Highlights children’s magazine, which runs a retreat and workshop center in Boyds Mills, PA. At this center and virtually, they organize workshops, talks, and retreats for both newcomers and professionals in the field of children’s literature, particularly writers and illustrators.There was another intern along with myself and our major responsibility was to oversee the day to day running of the workshops on campus. As part of this, we would assist guests with general procedures and provide information. We would also set up and assist in presentations, put up relevant book displays for each workshop, communicate with the faculty about their needs for the workshops and provide it to them, or otherwise communicate them to our supervisors. We were able to sit in on most presentations for troubleshooting purposes, but by getting to attend them we learned a lot of great info.
I was most proud of how much I opened myself up and improved my people skills. I learned to talk about myself and my work in a professional manner, and networked as much as I could. I’ve also learnt a lot about the children’s book industry in general from this experience- about both the creative process and the publishing/production process. I learned how opportunities come about for illustrators and how manuscripts become fully-fleshed, published books. Through talking to a huge variety of writers, illustrators, editors and agents, and educators, and attending so many presentations and talks with them, I have been able to get an incredible insight into the industry. This has really helped guide me and give me a more clear idea that I do want to pursue work in the kid's literature market.
