Bore da. How’s your week going? I’ve been having a bit of a mare myself.
You know that feeling when you wake up and you just feel a bit too well rested? That feeling was quickly replaced by a wash of horror as I realised last Wednesday morning that my phone charger had mysteriously kicked the bucket in the middle of the night, and therefore my alarm hadn’t gone off and I was an hour late to work. Having checked my emails and realised that, of course, the office was quite concerned about my whereabouts, I ran the half-mile into the office, had a bit of a stress-cry, and got my phone diagnosed in my lunch break. (It was the charging port that was broken, btw.)
Other than that, it’s been a good couple of weeks. I’ve been writing some blogs for the City of Arcades website, updating bits and pieces, and just generally trying to be useful. I’ve also been shadowing Emma, FOR Cardiff’s Marketing & Projects Officer, to learn a few things about social media management, and events planning. It’s given me a chance to test the waters in these areas and see what interests me or that I might want to try further. The team have been really good with giving me a range of opportunities and things to try.
One of the tasks I’ve enjoyed the most is being able to liaise with independent businesses, and suggest events for them. These are stores and cafes I frequent myself, so it’s really satisfying to be able to focus on promoting and supporting them. Soon, I’ll be writing up some interviews with some of Cardiff’s best local independent traders, so that the public can take a peek into what it’s like to run your business in the arcades. The best part is that it’s rekindled my personal love for the arcades- I’ll often spend my lunch breaks having a wander around, choosing a café (preferably with a good panini selection) and sitting in the window to people watch so I don’t get tempted to look at my phone. It’s also nice to know that the money you’re spending in the arcades is going towards someone’s children’s clothes or petrol for their car- it’s easy to see that your money goes right back into the business one way or another. That’s a level of directness you can only find with a small independent.
It’s strange to think I only have a couple of weeks left before I’m off into the world again and I have to find another job! Thankfully, I feel like I’ve learned so much from this placement that it shouldn’t be too difficult to find one that at least pays the bills. I think what this internship has inspired me to do the most is to look into applying to SME and independent businesses- if I like supporting them so much, perhaps it would do me good to work for one. I still have no idea how I want my career to turn out, but at least I know what I want to do right now- and that’s just fine by me.