Assignment Description:
Once you have finished the values prioritization worksheet complete the following:
What are your top 4-6 values? For each value, identify factors you will look for in an internship so as to live the value (be specific).
Top 6 Values
Note: I added some values in the space provided in the worksheet, so 3 of my top values come from my additions.
1) Community-based/grassroots: importance placed on community participation, public-participation; ground-up planning
This value is the basis for all my career choices and probably personal choices. Wherever I work, I want community participation to be a main objective. This idea was largely shaped by the Community Cultural Development class I took last quarter. I had already placed a high value on community driven work, but after taking that class, I realized the difference between top-down and ground-up organizations. It is hard to develop truly ground-up arts organizations (especially in education), but I would like to work with organizations that build from within the community, rather than bringing in art from the outside. But mostly, I want to work with an organization that works with a community to create art, that focuses on public participation in the arts.
2) Social Relations/Affiliation/Community/Cultural Identity/Family Orientation: Needing to have a supportive circle of friends inside or outside the work place. Belonging to a cultural, religious, or civic group. Strong emphasis on relationships, family, and friendships.
I am an extroverted person, so I know that I function best when surrounded by people. I go to cafes to do work, I develop friend groups for socializing, and depend on my friends for guidance and support. I also really enjoy feeling a part of a movement or organization. I stand in the middle of a crowd during a concert, I join clubs full of people with the same interests as me and I love working towards a cause with a group. Thus, it isn’t surprising that my number one value puts such a strong emphasis on community. I guess this means that I would want the organization I work at to have a strong cohesive group environment. However, I have worked at organizations that are very independent, so I developed a social atmosphere outside of work. In my ideal world, I have both, but as long as I have some supportive group atmosphere, I will be fine.
3) Live by doing: habits represent ideals, emphasis on acting on goals, make it happen attitude!
This is another value I added. I try to live by doing as much as possible. Part of this has to do with wanted to represent my values through my actions rather than through preaching (environmentalism for example). Also, I realized that if I want to develop a new skill or realize a goal, that I could just make it happen for myself, rather than wait for the right opportunity. I feel like this is how many young professionals make their start. They build their portfolio independently and then they can show employers that they are dedicated and self-motivated. This value is also very related to the Personal Development/Growth Orientation (#7). This would mean that the work environment I choose, will have opportunities for me to grow through doing, a very hands-on approach. This would also mean that I would want to pick a career that highly reflects my values, so that my work reflecting my values.
4) Altruism/Social Service/Helping Society and Others: Wanting to contribute to improving the human condition, society, and/or individuals’ quality of life.
I have a hard time imagining anyone wanting do something that didn’t contribute to society. I guess all kinds of jobs contribute in different ways, but I know that I would like to work on behalf of people, to help. My main hope is to work with people on the fringe of the art world, to help them interact with creativity and to express themselves. This isn’t what you usually think of when you think of altruism or social service. It has more psychological implications than physical, but it would still be improving people’s quality of life. Thus, I would want to work with an organization who’s mission (or specific department) is focused on working with these fringe communities, possibly an underrepresented community, people of low economic status or even a suburb/rural town.
5) Creativity/Creative Expression: Liking opportunities for experimentation and innovation, developing new ideas, programs, organization, solutions to problems, etc.
This value is also related to the values of Live by Doing and Personal Development/Growth Orientation. I try my best to work on developing my creative skills by taking on personal projects and challenges (30 Poems in 30 Days for example) and I would like my work environment to reflect that. I like to feel challenged and work towards goals, but I also like to feel I have the self-efficacy to accomplish said goals. Also, creativity and creative expression is my main interest and so I would want the organization I choose to also value them. As I mentioned, my hope is to help people be creative/express themselves creatively, so I am looking for organizations that help people do just that.
6) Flexibility/Discovery: willing to explore, change, adapt; emphasis on experiencing surroundings.
This is another value I added. It is highly related to the value Change/Variety/Excitement/Work on Frontiers of Knowledge, but not exactly. It’s not that I’m seeking out change, but that I want to be willing to let change happen. I love discovering new ideas and acting on them (yet again related to personal growth). I also love to explore my surroundings which I think relates to building or getting to know your community. So, whatever internship I find, I would also appreciate the opportunity to explore the area outside of work, to discover new interests and opportunities.
Here are images of the full list from the Value Prioritization worksheet. Click to see larger.
