My internship at the Digital Scholarship Commons has given me the chance to work on a range of interesting projects in a healthy and fun environment. I got to create and maintain web-based lesson plans for a variety of workshops, and I even ran some of these workshops for students and faculty alike. I had the privilege of working with and learning from members of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board and the Esquimalt Nation with their language revitalization efforts. I always had something to look forward to on my morning trip to work.
During my time at the Digital Scholarship Commons, I have developed many useful skills that I will carry forward into my future. I have furthered my technical abilities in areas such as 3D printing, GitHub version control, and Coding with HTML, to name a few. I was pleasantly surprised to be given the opportunity to learn about Raspberry Pi computers and the writing tool Twine, and I plan to explore these further. Beyond technical skills, I have also improved several valuable core skills. Leading several workshops has refined my public speaking and juggling several projects in parallel has sharpened my multitasking abilities.
The office environment at the libraries is welcoming and supportive. I have attended fun celebrations in the lounge, developed in-jokes with colleagues, and gotten links to thought-provoking resources as a fun bonus to my morning emails. All of my colleagues are talented, dynamic, and kind people who have encouraged me to do my best and who have become genuine friends. My time with UVic Libraries has quickly set the benchmark to which I will compare all future working environments.
This internship has been my first major step into the working world post-graduation and I already feel like I have made positive, impactful contributions to the community. When I was completing my degree, the Digital Scholarship Commons helped maintain my enthusiasm for learning. Its resources and services were vital to the development of my professional interests and hobbies, and offering this same positive influence to other members of UVic’s community has been deeply rewarding. It has built my confidence in my ability to adapt to and succeed in new working environments and has overall been an invaluable experience.