The first day of my internship, I was nervous, of course. What if I didn’t live up to their expectations? I hope I would know how to do what they needed. Walking in, my now coworkers were very friendly toward me. By the end of my first day, we had all taken a selfie, which made me feel special to be included in since I didn’t feel like part of the group yet.

“Hi, I’m Samantha the intern.” This is how I introduce myself to people I meet who are affiliated or know people in my company. It is a phrase that has stuck. It’s what people refer to me as, instead of using my actual name. But that’s okay because it means I have a position that I can be proud of. I have been very blessed to be chosen out of all the people who were interested in the position. I have gotten to know that just about everyone employed with the company I work for is in a band (I work in the music industry), except I am not. Yes, I enjoy singing and I do have a guitar that I am slowly learning how to play, but do I see myself being in a band? Not really. I love being the one behind the scenes helping other people shine. What makes me happy is seeing other people and their bands become successful.

I also have met some pretty incredible people while interning. The owner has brought The White Stripes, All Time Low, Kid Rock, and more to Toledo. To me, that is amazing and inspiring. I have heard a lot and I know that he knows what he is doing and he does it well, along with the other employees of my company. I have learned my position from two main people. One focuses more on the booking aspect of the company while one focuses more on the marketing aspect. I have seen the people they interact with, and it amazes me just how many people that they know by name. I can’t even imagine getting to that level.

I have worked at a pretty good variety of concerts, and I had the amazing privilege of helping with the 18^th annual music festival back in June. That was a great experience because there were over 40 bands that played, four different stages in two rooms, and a heck of a lot of people who attended! I was able to help load in and load out the headlining band, help with the door by giving drinking/nondrinking wristbands to concert goers after their tickets were scanned, and got to see and hear a lot of incredible acts. I was also able to work at a show where Bone Thugs-N-Harmony headlined. Now, I didn’t really know much about them, but I heard they were basically rap legends. My experience with them was…interesting to say the least. It was definitely a night I will not forget.

Here are some of my favorite memories from my internship so far:

• My first show I helped work, where I wrote three personalized notes to give to the band because it was a part of their contract (to see if the booking company would actually read it).
• Grocery shopping for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony with one of my supervisors.
• Getting to see one of my favorite bands, Never Let This Go, and one of my favorite people, the vocalist David Kleinebreil, play at the bar where I first saw them, knowing that I was now affiliated and worked for that bar. It was a great feeling.
• Celebrating my 21^st birthday at my favorite bar, which I have been going to since I was a freshman in high school. (Note: I am now a senior in college.)
• Being a merch girl for a night for the band, Big Thief.
• Eating pizza on the rooftop of one of my favorite coworkers’ apartment.
• The antics of my coworkers every time I am in the office. They keep work interesting, that's for sure, so we never really get bored.
• Getting to see my coworkers performing on stage. It makes me so proud and honored.