If a junior next year were to intern here at Humble Heart, I would advise them to be firstly very interested in both music and getting better at customer service/interaction. When I started this, I thought there would be more in the clothes side, but there is not much to do on that front. If you want to intern here, it would be best if you had skills in drawing, graphic design, some instrument, or gardening, as these are all good things to do when there is downtime. Considering that the time of internship is usually right before/during the Battle of the Bands, it would also be helpful if you wanted to practise public speaking. (Also, I lost my timesheet so that will be uploaded separately)

I am planning to continue working at Humble Heart after the internship is over. This was firstly necessary as I (along with the other mentor) have been hosting the Battle of the Bands, as part of my project. However, that continues throughout the month of February, after internship is over. My mentor asked me if I would do this, and also occasionally help out at large shows or when she needs someone in the store. The picture is me announcing the winners at the first day of the Battle of the Bands.

Social interactions in my internship vary depending on what time or day it is. Typically, when Humble Heart is open as a thrift store, there is around 5-15 customers a day, which I usually do not interact with much other than checking out their items and welcoming them. When there are shows, I help the band set up and transition the space from a thrift store to a music venue, then I work the ticket booth which is a lot of customer service. Consistently throughout the day, there is usually my mentor, who I help out and do miscellaneous tasks for. Occasionally, there is her niece or husband, which is roughly the same (except the niece has a very cute six year old). On Thursdays and some Saturdays, an intern from another school is with me. There are also some music teachers and students that come in, but I generally don't interact with them.

My project has been going very well. I finished the first two sections. The first thing I had to do was design and draw four posters for each day of the battle of the bands that Humble Heart is having in February. I went through multiple sketches and test designs for all of these, and had to make multiple alterations to them as the lineup, times, or prices changed. The second thing I had to do was help select the bands that would be participating, and choose which day they would perform based on availability, style of music, location, and multiple other factors. The initial selection process took about six days, as we (me and four other judges) had to whittle 72 applications into 21 performers. The third part has not happened yet. I have been asked to be the host of the shows along with another intern from a different school. This will extend past the duration of the internship. I have attached two of the posters I made.

My biggest limitation in this internship is probably my lack of customer service skills. I am not very good at talking to people, but this internship requires lots of it. During the day, I run the register and also help people find clothes and instruments, which means I need to be very personable. Also, due to the location, I sometimes have to deal with unruly people. During the night, I run the ticket booth, so all of the bands playing and all people watching go through me. This forced exposure (to put it harshly) has helped me a lot with being more outgoing.

For my project, my mentor asked me to help with their second annual Battle of the Bands. The main thing I have been doing so far is beginning to design and hand draw all four posters/flyers for the four weekends of it, and I have so far finished one and started on the second. I have been planning to go off the word "battle" in it, and I started with medieval knights playing a guitar and bass, and next will be a wild west theme with cowboys and microphones. I haven't drawn in a while so this is a good challenge for me. I have also been asked to help with the selection process of the bands, narrowing over seventy applications down to 21. I also helped make social media posts advertising the signups on their Instagram page, and have helped at the ticket booth at two of their shows.

Humble Heart provides a LOT of services. The most popular ones are clothes, which are all donated not sold, and shows featurimg local artists around 3-4 times a week. Last night I helped out at a show very late, and it was super cool to see all the people that were excited to see music live. They also sell plants, various household items, and homemade candles. The picture is the stage they use for performances and the table with posters for upcoming shows. I also started my project this week, which is to design posters for their Battle of the Bands starting soon.

The thing that has most surprised me is that they also do music lessons here, which I didn't know about. The image for this is one of the bass guitars they use for them which I really like. 

Over this internship, I hope I can learn more about the process of shows, like setting up, flyers, reaching out, etc. I also want to learn how thrift shops run as I think it's interesting, and I want to learn more about different instruments. I'm slightly worried I'll be out of my element, or that I won't be able to keep up. Otherwise I am just looking forwards to it. I believe that much of what I learn here will be useful in my life after, both music-wise and normal.