Bittersweet Symphony

 

During my freshman Winter Term, I interned with UCLA Hillel’s Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts.  It was a great experience that sparked my interest in arts administration.  Upon returning to Oberlin, I started researching what would be the next logical step in pursuing this possible career path.

Unfortunately, most of the internships I discovered required that applicants at least be a junior in college.  In this category, there was one internship program that struck me in particular, sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  I added it to my browser’s bookmark tap, figuring that it might be worth pursuing in a few years when I had some more arts administration experience under my belt.  And that is what I’ve spent the last four years doing.

My father was incredibly enthusiastic about all of my internships.  He spent his own college summers doing research at Caltech and Berkeley (the latter during the summer of ’67, so jealous!) and felt that those experiences gave him a strong understanding of what he wanted out of his career.  My first “big” internship was at TheatreWorks, an awesome, mid-sized repertory theatre in Palo Alto, California.  While it was an unpaid position, they were committed to providing interns with the best possible experience.  I couldn’t fully articulate it at the time, but I knew that I needed to intern with this organization.

Many parents would have encouraged their children to find another opportunity that was paid and/or closer to home.  But my father understood that this opportunity could very well open doors for me and was extraordinarily generous in his financial support during that summer.  The investment paid off, as I later scored paid internships with Center Theatre Group, the largest non-profit theatre organization in Los Angeles, and CBS Television Studios.

At the beginning of this semester, I remembered the Kennedy Center internship and  concluded that I was ready to apply.  The application process was a little nerve-wracking, as this internship represented something I have been working towards for the past four years.  So when I received notice yesterday afternoon that I was chosen to be the Kennedy Center’s Press Office intern, I spent the rest of the day walking around in a daze.  I’m extraordinarily grateful, but it’s very bizarre to get something you’ve had your eye on throughout your entire college career.

I have to confess that this is a bittersweet moment for me.  Since my father’s death, there have been many successes (and failures) I wish I could tell him about.  But the Kennedy Center held a special place in his heart.  One of my father’s earliest memories was watching the Kennedy Center Awards with my grandmother, and as far as I remember, he made sure to watch the ceremony every single year since then.   I sure he had faith that I would achieve something like this one day, but it was sad when I called home to deliver the news and only my mom was there to receive it.

However, the initial sadness is passing, and I’m becoming increasingly excited about living in Washington, DC.  Despite being a total American history nerd, I’ve never been able to visit the city, and how fortunate it is that I’ll be there for the National Cherry Blossom Festival.  Plus, the perk of my job is that I can attend as many Kennedy Center shows as I want for free so long as there’s availability.

This one's for you, Poppa Bear.

 

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Tags: Melissa Wolfish