Photo: Rebecca Jarrold (second from left), with with Australian Baroque team members Georgina Harper, Helen Kruger and Brad Coleman, and fellow intern Sam Theodorus (right).
During the final semester of her UWA Bachelor of Science degree, Rebecca Jarrold took on an internship through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship, supporting the work of Australian Baroque to bring the community together through music.
“I had two main goals going into the internship, to challenge myself in an area outside my comfort zone and to discover how I can contribute to the community in everyday life and in my future job,” said Rebecca, who majored in Environmental Science and Management.
“An important part of my role involved creating and collating resources for grant applications, as well as working on a draft philanthropy plan for the year. I also developed my design skills to create promotional material for events and used my knowledge of social media for effective promotion, and supported event management by helping with set up and pack down, crowd control and guest check in.
“It was rewarding to see my suggestions coming to life; while drafting the philanthropy plan, I realised there was no formal feedback system in place. I used this as a chance to be innovative and created a feedback form as well as a flyer. Hopefully these will be valuable for future events.”
“The most rewarding aspect of the internship was being able to do something for the community, seeing the outcome of the work I contribute come to fruition in events and seeing how much people enjoy what Australian Baroque does.”
Helen Kruger, Artistic Director at Australian Baroque, said that Rebecca’s contribution had helped “deliver a broad range of community programming from children’s concerts to main stage filmed concerts”.
“We challenged Rebecca to work in many different areas of our organisation including media, marketing, programming, design and communications. Rebecca was a complete joy to work with, quick thinking, engaging and a real asset to our team, we miss her!”
As an intern working in a field not directly related to her area of study, Rebecca said she had overcome initial nervousness and doubts about her ability to contribute.
“The experience definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it also allowed me to develop a broader skill set that I might not have acquired otherwise. I had to approach tasks and challenges from new perspectives, and I honed my communication, critical thinking and teamwork skills – the internship definitely prepared me more for my future career,” Rebecca said.
“I would highly recommend a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship to other students. Being able to develop professionally and grow on my journey to becoming an active citizen was an invaluable experience.”