My name is Labiba Faiza and I will be entering my third year of undergraduate studies at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in fall 2022. I’m currently double majoring in International Development Studies and Cultural Studies with a minor in South Asian Studies. Part of the reason I decided to study the aforementioned subjects is that I wanted to expand my horizons and gain knowledge in a wide range of fields to discover what interested me. For the time being, my hope is to establish a career in the fields of media and communication. Also, since childhood, I have been passionate about the art of storytelling, which led me to major in Cultural Studies. Be it in the form of books or movies, I find that storytelling can be a very impactful vehicle for change.
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On May 2nd, I started interning at the Kabir Centre for Arts and Culture, a CRA-registered non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating South Asian arts and promoting social harmony between diverse members of Canadian society. I worked on their monthly Book Club, which aims to generate important conversations between diverse members of Canadian society. I wanted to do an internship during the summer because of my desire to gain practical working experience in the field of arts. Kabir Centre for Arts and Culture intrigued me as someone who is of South Asian heritage and is interested in the rich culture.
The organization offered an internship for their annual Film Festival as well, but I chose to apply for the Book Club internship in particular because much of the Cultural Studies curriculum is already centered around films. I felt the need to explore the intricacies of storytelling in a different form. As a novice reader who only started to read seriously last year, my knowledge of literature was understandably limited, which I wanted to change.
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As a Book Club intern, my main responsibility was to create a comprehensive database of books that could be read by members. I thoroughly researched award-winning authors and works of literature to choose books that would encourage socially impactful conversations. For instance, many of the books chosen delved into topics such as racism, politics, poverty, and more. I also had to be mindful about not including books that contain themes that could offend members, many of whom are relatively conservative. Multiple books were not shortlisted for the final database because they explored suggestive topics such as sex and violence. I researched library availability, awards, screen adaptations, author background, and more. Beyond my principal tasks, I also created a Google Poll where members could vote for their favorite book out of three.
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One of my favorite parts of being a Book Club intern was taking part in the monthly Book Club meetings. During these meetings, I witnessed healthy exchanges of ideas between people with differing opinions. I learnt that respectful dialogue on difficult topics are not only possible, but also have the potential to engender meaningful change in society. My insights on books were not only welcomed but appreciated by those present. I also loved discovering new books by authors that I had not known of before, and I look forward to reading them in the future.
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Although, there were challenges as well. During the first half of my internship, correspondence between myself and my supervisor happened exclusively through email, as she was traveling in places with limited internet availability. The lack of in-person and video communication made it hard to build a connection with the organization and its mission, but the issue subsided once my supervisor returned. Additionally, in my effort to make an accessible and user-friendly database, I realized that I was unfamiliar with many Excel/Google Sheets functions. I had to look up how to do execute multiple tasks on YouTube and Google but ended up being successful in creating a dashboard with pivot tables consolidating important information, making the book selection process easier.
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While I am not receiving any academic credit for the internship, this 3-month long project has significantly enriched my university experience. I believe that alongside learning within traditional classroom settings, students should also be granted opportunities to gain hands-on knowledge. During this internship, not only did I learn to be disciplined and independent, but my knowledge on the world of literature increased greatly. I believe that these skills will serve me well during my academic career and well beyond it.
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I was compensated for my work as an intern at the Kabir Centre for Arts and Culture through the Archie Malloch Undergraduate Internships in Public Learning Award. I would like to express my gratitude towards Mr. John Blachford for funding my internship and allowing me to dedicate more time and energy to this internship.
