I am Lisa and I will be an intern here at Glasgow Women’s Library for the next three months.
When I am not in Scotland I am a student of Bremen University, Germany, working on a degree in English-Speaking Cultures and Political Sciences.
After adjusting to the Scottish weather (which is not too bad . . . well, at least sometimes!), and finding my way around the city, I made my first visit to Glasgow Women’s Library two weeks ago.
Here at GWL I will be working with the National Project, supporting them with everything that is going on during the next few weeks. Additionally, I will be helping with the preparation and realisation of the Bold Types creative writing competition (for which you can hand in your short story or poem until 2nd November, for more information make sure to check out: https://womenslibrary.org.uk/2018/09/05/bold-types-scottish-womens-creative-writing-competition-2018/ ) .
Back at University I’m enrolled in a BA programme which will prepare me for a MA in education. I hope that these two projects at GWL will help me to decide what to do with my degree. Right now I am not sure whether I can see myself standing in front of a class all my life. I’m looking forward to exploring ways of learning and educating outside school, and the student teacher relationship. By working with the National Project and getting to know the Lifelong Learning Programme, I will hopefully be closer to an answer to that question by the end of my internship. Furthermore, I will have the opportunity to join the National Project in some of their activities around Scotland, which allows me to see what GWL is up to outside of Glasgow (and of course this gives me an opportunity to see some of Scotland, which is nice).
In addition to my work for GWL I am excited to have the opportunity to take part in some of their workshops, which offer amazing learning opportunities. So far I have taken part in one of the creative writing workshops led by Donna. Even though I would not say that I myself produced something even close to what one would call literature, it was really inspiring to see how creative other women were in such a short time. It was fascinating to see people using language outside an academic context. The appreciation those women had for each other’s work was extraordinary! I am not sure if I had ever experienced such a non-competitive atmosphere before.
In summary, the start of my internship could not have been better. I was welcomed with a so much kindness, warmth, tea and cake! The work I am doing here is really different compared to previous internships I have worked on. The feeling of having responsibility and actually doing work the Library and the team benefits from is a really positive experience.
