Dont Believe the Hype, Find Your Own Hype

Ask an intern what their company does and they will tell you (that is if they like their company values) that the company is amazing. This company has built something that is revolutionizing something and now their life is being transformed. And from the outside this concept is beautiful and would convince you this person’s job is fascinating. However, ask an intern what their day to day tasks are especially in the first week and this answer changes drastically.

In my first week of interning at Brilliant Detroit I have done everything from attending slightly aggressive meetings, scanning thousands of documents (maybe that was a bit dramatic but I digress), to water sealing planks of wood. In this answer you will find nothing inspiring or life changing. In fact, I am very convinced that a high school student with minimum Microsoft Office knowledge could do my job just fine. I swear I am going somewhere with this just hold on.

Anyone could do the technicalities of my job. It does not take much effort to show up for work and do what someone asks you to do. Except that it is (I know that plot twist gotcha). You will be surprised to know that getting to work on time is not an easy task to do. In the DCBRP we are fortunate enough to have people who are compensated for driving us to and from work but take for instance someone who has a child, works 25 minutes away from their job and has no car. This now becomes a major challenge. Remember how I said you need only be a high school student with some Microsoft Office experience to do my job? Well this too is a major luxury. A high school student is forced to type papers so of course they are forced to use computers a lot but take for instance someone who is maybe in their 50s. They may have less experience so it may take them longer to complete the same tasks as say a 19 year old girl named Dominique who attends a top University (oddly specific I know, kind of reminds me of someone I know).

What am I saying here you may wonder (that is if you’re still interested because you are the unfortunate person who chose to respond to my blog)? The company I work for is amazing. Brilliant Detroit is it built for the community, by the community and with the community. Every program offered is a reflection of what the community has requested and not what someone else thought would be a good program to implement. For these reasons I understand that at times it may not be the most fascinating tasks to do because at the end of the day these programs are not for me. Although I am from Detroit, I am a foreigner to this community and it is my job to help the vision of the community not make the vision. When I help maybe I am not at the forefront making large decisions and I shouldn’t be because I know nothing about Southwest Detroit. I don’t know their particular struggles, victories, personality or history.

But herein lies the beauty, I have been given the opportunity to learn.