By Mikayla Podmorow, UBCO Intern

Meet Mikayla Podmorow, the RCA’s 2022 UBCO Bachelor of Education Field Experience intern! Mikayla has been working alongside our Community and Educational Programming Specialist, Andrew Stauffer, to design engaging themed activities for the RCA’s popular Arts Blast Summer Camp. As her internship draws to a close, Mikayla sat down to tell us about her time here at the RCA firsthand.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect out of my few weeks aboard the RCA team. I’m a UBCO Education Teacher Candidate, and I am thoroughly loving my practical year, especially my time in the schools. For May, UBCO takes a different route in our practicum placement options. The School of Education partners with local organizations, alternative schools, and community initiatives so that we can understand education as more than four-walled classroom. To be honest, I was a little skeptical about this whole set-up. I loved my time in the schools, and teaching has been my long-term plan since high school. Wouldn’t I benefit more from another opportunity to work in a school?

“As is often the case, I was wrong. My initial skepticism proved unwarranted because I’m gaining all sorts of valuable insight and experience working with RCA. I’m planning the children’s summer art camp, and it’s a blast. I’m exercising creative muscles in my brain that were lying dormant for a while. Because I am working on this project solo, I feel that I’m getting reacquainted with my instincts. My Bachelor of Education program is incredibly collaborative, and I love that. Nine times out of ten, I will choose the opportunity to work in a larger collaborative environment. However, I realized over the last few weeks that I started relying on other people to flesh out my ideas for me. I abandoned the practice of taking an idea and running with it, in all its messy, imperfect glory. At RCA, I’m running with messy half-brained ideas and turning them into something that (I hope) will be really cool.”