I鈥檓 Emily, a PhD student studying English and Disability at 9I制作厂免费, and I鈥檓 incredibly grateful to the donors who make summer internships like mine possible. I received a Faculty of Arts Internship Award, and I have had a truly unforgettable experience.
While seeking out an internship, I was looking for something in the city. I wanted to connect with Montreal in a new way. I was hoping to find a position in which I could make use of my technical writing and communication skills as well as my understanding of ableism, disability, and the power of representation. I wanted to test my own ability to apply academic learning in real world settings, and I wanted to learn more about how books and stories come to be, and come to influence the world around them. I found a perfect fit.
For the past several months, I have been interning as a grant writer and project manager at the Creative Arts Foundation of Canada (CAFC), a Montreal-based charity that uses the arts to foster strong community ties, wellness, and creative thinking. The CAFC designs a diverse array of innovative projects that seek to better the world using the power of art - hosting events, publishing books, doing outreach, and more.
As a project manager/grant writer I have had a lot of fingers in a lot of different pies. Mostly, I help plan or refine projects to make them more cost-efficient, more inclusive, or more likely to receive funding, and then I write and re-write applications to philanthropic organizations, large companies, or government initiatives in hopes of receiving grants or sponsorships to support our programming. This summer I focused my efforts on Art Fest 2025 - a small community party, connecting families in the CDN-NDG borough through collaborative art activities - and Ages of Beauty - a project aiming to get professional artists into seniors鈥� residences to paint portraits and listen to stories, compiling art and narrative to publish a book the CAFC will distribute around the city.
I felt very fortunate, in this position, to come from a background in English Lit. The persuasive, formal writing skills I鈥檝e honed in school have been a huge asset, and the subject matter I鈥檓 writing on - the value of art and representation - is very familiar territory as well.
Of course, it wasn鈥檛 always easy to feel like I fit in this role. Grant-writing involves a lot of trial and error, rejections, and sending emails that never get a response. Especially near the beginning of my internship, it was difficult to feel useful. Speaking with my supervisors about past projects, however, allowed me to feed off the confidence of team members who knew from experience that these projects would succeed.
I did not receive academic credit for this internship, but I can tell that it will have a measurable impact on my research. Personal experience in publishing and related fields lends me a whole new perspective on the books and films - the stories of disability - that I鈥檓 approaching as cultural artifacts in my own research. I am aware, in a whole new way, of the labour it takes to create and to distribute literature on a wide scale.
The funding I received from the Faculty of Arts Internship Award supported me, so that I could support this organization I believe in. Thanks to this award, I was able to devote my summer to this work - spending full work days on location. This in turn allowed me to immerse myself in this organization, and I could not be more grateful.
Many, many thanks to 9I制作厂免费 alumni who make these awards possible. I truly appreciate your generosity!
