Dua Hussain | CIIP 2023 Blog Portfolio
Posted: July 5, 2023
Orientation Week
Orientation was an enjoyable experience and I was glad to meet everyone in my cohort. In terms of challenges, I think I struggled with really getting out of my group and developing relationships with people from other small groups. I’d like to have established stronger relationships with people in the cohort, especially because they’re all so cool and interesting and I want to learn more about them. As for enjoyment, I liked the presentations about Baltimore and Hopkins history the most. I had some background knowledge about the topic, but the presentations deepened my understanding of the ways Hopkins has impacted Baltimore communities. It also made me realize how many Hopkins students are oblivious to this history. Honestly, learning about it more made me excited to get out into my placement and meet Baltimoreans.
Week 1
Pertaining to the above question, getting to work has really highlighted the transportation inequity present in Baltimore. There are so many ways I can get to places in the White L, but the moment you try to go outside of it, there is almost no way to get there. My placement is on Pennsylvania Avenue and it’s only a 10 minute drive from my apartment, but I have to take either two busses or a bus and the metro to get there. That takes about an hour, which means it takes 6x more time to get there than if I could just drive. That is so unfair for the people living in that area because they struggle to get anywhere, especially due to the fact that if you need to take multiple busses or the metro, you need multiple tickets and some people can’t afford to pay for that.
Week 2
This week has been great for the most part! I love the team and I feel really welcome and part of the space. It’s been way more relaxed because classes haven’t started, but that is about to change. I think what I’ve been struggling with the most is my hours. I have realized that I come home and have barely any time to do anything, which is the same in the morning. Because of that, I’ve been neglecting personal tasks and I feel like all I’ve done this week is work.
Week 3
The typical day at Jubilee Arts actually starts, for me, with getting there. I have to take two busses and walk about 10 minutes when I arrive. I’ve gotten used to it now, but it can be tiring and it just reminds me of how bad transportation inequity is in Baltimore. After that, I come in and check my emails. I respond to any unanswered emails, set up meetings, and send follow ups to people who haven’t responded yet. One of my projects right now is to find another nonprofit in Baltimore that would be willing to provide 20 meals or snacks 4x a week in the Fall session. I’m also looking Baltimore-based media outlets, including podcasts, to cover Jubilee’s Youth-in-Business program. Currently, only Jubilee Arts classes have started. Youth-in-Business starts in July. I’m a part of both teams, so my work will likely change when Youth-in-Business starts.
For Jubilee Arts classes, I assist the teachers with anything they need and am mostly in charge of the social media. I take pictures of the classes, edit them, and post them on the story and Instagram feed. I also make graphics that they can reuse after I’m gone. I actually got a shout out from our Intersection of Change Director!
Another one of my daily tasks is calling the people that have classes that day and reminding them of the time of their class. That can take an hour or two.
My supervisor will usually have some other tasks for me throughout the day as well.
I always end my day with emails, doing the same that I do in the morning.
Then it’s just traveling back home, which can take 40 minutes to an hour.
I really enjoy my day, especially because of my coworkers. They’re really fun to be around.
Week 4
Thinking about the entire summer so far and CIIP, I don’t believe that my summer goals have changed. However, I do think that my goals for the year have changed because of this experience. When I came in, I was more focused on making sure that I would have research for the coming year and that I would have a literary agent. Now, though, I’ve got other “smaller”things that I also want to do. Being at Jubilee makes me feel like things I’ve always wanted to do are at my fingertips. For example, I have always wanted to learn how to sew and I know that there are sewing classes here. Not only that, but they’re affordable. I also completed a long-term goal of mine: trying ceramics. I made a bowl and I’m working on that as well. It’s nice to be around all of these creative people and I like that it forces me to really, genuinely value my own creativity and artsy characteristics. At Hopkins, it can be hard to value the things about me that I don’t get to spend too much time on. And, during the semester, I end up neglecting all of my other hobbies. That means I’m not painting or crocheting or reading or drawing or learning any new arts. It’s frustrating during the year, but being here at Jubilee makes me feel better about it. It gives me space for the most important thing in my life to be art and not my classes or my major, etc. I also have gotten the chance to expand my network within the arts. It’s hard enough to expand a network, especially in Medicine and at Hopkins, but I had no network for the arts. I realized this summer that I needed one so that I could publish my book and I feel so supported by Jubilee in the process of making that network. Working here hasn’t necessarily changed my goals, but I think it definitely has expanded them.
Week 5
In terms of this question, I somewhat feel like there is an emphasis on hard skills. However, I simply don’t think the things I’m gaining need to be hard skills. There’s more value in the soft skills I learn in this environment because I will carry them into every aspect of my life. Oftentimes, hard skills are things that I can only use in very specific spaces, but soft skills aren’t like that. They can aide you in every environment you’re in. I also don’t think I necessarily went into this internship looking to be “more ready” for my future profession. I didn’t want this to be something that simply made my resume better. That was never the purpose for me. I hold value in how, after this experience, I will be able to look back and say that I learned so much and enjoyed my time here. I hold value in the relationships I have fostered and the experiences I have had here. As well as just figuring out what type of working environment I want in the future. I enjoy this internship because I’ve learned how to uphold my love for art, even while I continue on my path to become a doctor. It’s been amazing to see how I am allowed to be every part of myself in this space, especially because—when I’m around other pre-med students—I feel as though the artistic parts of myself have to shrink to be a part of that environment. Jubilee Arts has created memories that I will hold onto and, even more so, taught me lessons that I don’t think I know yet. I will uncover what I learned from this experience as I move through life and look back at this.
Week 7
In terms of the above question, I honestly did not expect my placement to interact with the other ones, but how wrong I was. Coming into Jubilee, my supervisor told me that I would love the place because they often combine arts and social justice, two things I love. She was right and I get to see that firsthand, all of the time. I also had to work to find a partner that could provide/help provide food for one of our programs. That partner ended up being the Black Church Food Security Network, which is another nonprofit in the city and in CIIP.
Other than that, however, I have been thinking about the relationships I’ve developed at Jubilee. I genuinely love and appreciate my coworkers and the intersection of change staff so much. At Jubilee, the phrase “we’re like a family” isn’t a red flag or toxic. Everyone is respectful of each other’s boundaries in terms of work and encourages taking breaks and generally taking care of yourself. Yet, at the same time, everyone is really close. They’re all friends and we’re always talking about our lives outside of work with each other. It’s to the point where we ask one another for advice on things going on in other parts of our lives. We spend time discussing real life issues and consistently have deep talks. The staff make me actually enjoy working. I feel like I’ve gained friends, not just work experience.
At the same time, Jubilee has increased my contact with the community here and has had a lot to do with just how comfortable I feel in the city, how at home I feel here.
