Reflections from the Intern
Bailey Cate is the summer intern for programming at the Memphis River Parks Partnership and begins her senior year studying Environmental Studies and Urban Studies at Rhodes College this fall.
From learning bachata at Tropical Thursdays to helping kids create nature-themed crafts at Nature Week, this summer interning for Memphis River Parks Partnership proved to be no lack of fun. Not only did I have the opportunity to work engaging events, but I learned important professional skills that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. However, my time at Memphis River Parks was more than a professional learning experience. It also opened my eyes to the capability of public spaces to bring people together from different backgrounds. After living in Memphis for three years, I have never experienced the sense of community I’ve felt along the riverfront. I met people that I never would have encountered had it not been for a dance lesson or a free concert. This aspect of my internship will be what I value most as I finish my undergraduate degree and begin to enter the “real world”.
When I first started working at the Partnership, I had completed two other summer internships in the past. I thought I knew how summer internships worked, and I was ready to sit quietly at my cubicle and do what I was told. However, this was not the case at Memphis River Parks. Immediately, I was thrown into the middle of the bustling nonprofit world, and my first week on the job I was coordinating a group of volunteers painting a railing at one of the parks. This was my first glimpse into the life of working at a nonprofit. With such a small team, everyone at Memphis River Parks does a little bit of everything, and that means the intern as well. This was a very exciting aspect for me, as this was the first internship I felt as what I had to do and say was actually important. I learned how to create programs, interact with community members at events, and create posts for social media. I would not have been able to cultivate these skills, had it not been for the trust and eagerness of Memphis River Parks staff in wanting to help me grow and learn to be a productive team member.
Working at a nonprofit not only opened my eyes to the diversity of everyone’s job, but it also allowed me to see how hard everyone has to work in order for things to run smoothly. As the summer went on I found myself growing more and more passionate about the work I was doing. This was mostly due to the fact that the Memphis River Parks staff came to work each day with a sense of purpose I had never experienced before. The sense of devotion to creating a stronger and more equitable riverfront rubbed off on me, and I began to value each work day a little more. Memphis River Parks taught me that to create a successful organization everyone must be all-in and ready to work their hardest. This was something I was not necessarily expecting to learn, but it is something I’ll always remember and try to incorporate in my future workplaces.
As mentioned before, the most substantial thing I learned from Memphis River Parks is the power of public space. Before my internship a park — especially in a city — was just a park to me. Since I love to be outside, parks are places I visit often, but I never thought of a city park as anything but a parcel of grassy area with maybe a playground and a few trees. Now I see a park as a place of possibility. Throughout the summer I had the opportunity to help run many of the free programs offered by Memphis River Parks which gave me monumental insight in how a park can be transformed into a hub for social interactions and community. Every event gave community members the ability to interact with those they may never get the chance to, all through the power of a shared space. As an environmental studies major, this was an aspect of nature I had never considered: nature as a source of community.
My time at Memphis River Parks Partnership will not be taken for granted. I learned multitudes of workplace skills and gained valuable insight on how community can be transformed through the parks. As I begin to enter my senior year of college, I finally feel like I am a part of the Memphis community, all thanks to the monumental work being done by the river.
Thanks to Bailey for a wonderful summer creating and running programs on the riverfront. For more information on events and happenings in the parks, head over to memphisriverparks.org.
