P4CM Blog

Cassy Gutierrez

INTERESTED IN BEING A P4CM INTERN?

Hear from our current Interns on what they have experienced in the internship.

Meet Our interns:

Hello, my name is Cassy Gutierrez. I am twenty two years old and a recent graduate from Vanguard University. I majored in business administration and have had a passion for event planning and youth/young adults. I have been attending P4CM events since about 2010. I have always enjoyed Rhetoric (Lyricist Lounge) and always wanted to take part in P4CM. I just did not know how to get involved. A Mutual friend connected me with TQ (Head of P4CM) and this lead me to the internship opportunity. I could not of thought of a better time for me to be involved in P4CM especially as a recent graduate figuring out what is next in my life and how to apply my abilities and passions. Here is a little bit of my experience thus far as an intern… 

Hey, I’m Kiahna! I’m twenty-two from Los Angeles, California. I started out as a member of Passion 4 Christ Movement in 2008 when I was a junior in high school. I’ve been able to watch the transformation and growth of P4CM over the years, and I’m thankful to be apart of the movement in a more integral way. I haven’t contributed much to the movement up until now, but I have seen the hard work and effort so many people have done to keep the movement alive, and I wanted to be apart. I started the internship a few weeks after Rhetoric 2013 this past August and have shared some thoughts on the amazing experience so far!

Q: What were some of your fears/concerns going into the internship?

Cassy: Hmm, when I first started the internship I was really excited to help and get involved with P4CM. Something I was nervous about was joining a movement that already had a network of people. From what I observed everyone who was apart of P4CM had been there from either the beginning (the start of P4CM) or knew people who had been apart of P4CM for sometime. I knew i was going to be joining a group of people who had history with one another and I was going to have to find my niche in the group.

Kiahna: Rhetoric 2013 was such an amazing event, that I knew I wanted to participate in some way the next year. The opportunity to help came a lot sooner than I expected. When I finally became an intern and was tasked with managing P4CM’s many social networks, I was excited and also nervous. I don’t post much of anything on my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts, so having to post regular content for thousands felt more than a little intimidating. I was definitely afraid. I asked myself a lot of questions like What if I post something no one likes? What if I mess up and end up posting something on accident? Thankfully, I can always go to Christ first with my worries and fears. When I ask him to calm my fearful spirit he encourages me and gives me the strength not to shy away from daunting tasks. I’ve made mistakes (a lot), but I’m learning from them while trying to face my fears head on. 

Q: What are some Leadership tips you have learned?

How to be a good Leader: Leadership Loop

Cassy: One of the BIGGEST leadership tips I have learned from the start of the internship would have to be the leadership loop. TQ introduced the leadership loop as something that all leaders should work from. It was the basics, the steps a leader should take to be an effective leader. The leadership loop has been something that I have been able to apply in my own life with my roommates, my co-workers and in group situations. What is the leadership loop you may ask, I could go on and explain each step of the loop but then we would be getting off topic. What I do want to say is this internship so far has taught me what a Christian Leader looks like but has also given me tools to apply what I am learning. This internship has not only taught me concepts but has given me opportunities to apply what I am learning. If you are looking for an opportunity to really sharpen your skills and grow in weaker areas this internship is just that.

 

Kiahna Manker

Kiahna: The Leadership Loop is one tool we are learning how to incorporate into our daily lives. It is a guide to becoming an effective leader. I haven’t mastered using it perfectly every time, however I can already see the usefulness of working with others while keeping the leadership loop in mind. I’ve never considered myself a leader; so following someone else has always been more comfortable. I know now that being a leader isn’t just about giving commands, but setting myself up to be helpful to someone else more effectively and efficiently. 

Q: How has your Communication skills developed when working with P4CM?

Cassy: P4CM has really opened my eyes to the many ways one can keep in communication with team members. As a business major I was very aware of conference calls through your computer but never had to use these in group situations. For P4CM we communicate with each other the most using google hangouts, project management programs and emails. Since everyone lives in different areas the easiest way we can all come together and know what others are doing is through these methods. This has been something I am having to get to use too. The programs I have been introduced to have really shown me many different ways we can communicate as a team and get the same information across as we would in a face to face meeting. I know the programs we have used and these methods are something that I will use in my future. We are living in a time where technology is being used in our everyday lives so why not be introduced to the new methods of communicating with groups.

Kiahna: I’m known to be a pretty quiet and introverted person, so communicating via the Internet is challenging but ultimately doable. Communicating face to face is another story. I can psyche myself out easily when it comes to networking with new people. It’s always been more comfortable for me to observe rather than participate. But thanks to this internship more opportunities have come up for me to step outside of my comfort zone. The best example has been attending Youtube workshops where lots of young people get together to network. At first I had a goal to talk to at least five people, but I found that once I just decided to be myself, talking with others came easily. Making myself nervous was the only thing keeping me from communicating effectively and having fun meeting new people.

Q: What are new skills you are learning?

Cassy: I love event planning and the details it takes to put on an event or even run a ministry. P4CM has not only helped me in my passions and skills but has taught me new skills. Something that I am working through right now is video. The process of coming up with a storyline, tools you need to make a video, shots to take, sound quality ect. I would not qualify this as a skill that I have yet, but I do know that after this internship I will have an understanding of video, more than I would have expected myself to have ever known. I am excited about what I am learning and what I am getting my feet wet with. Something else that I am developing as a skill is task management. I have always been someone who writes down what i need to do and what appointments I have in a planner. I love to see visually what needs to be done that week. This internship has opened my eyes to programs/apps that will allow me to program my tasks on  my phone as well as on my computer. I am learning how to group these tasks more effectively.

Kiahna: I’m learning a lot from this internship, but one thing that has been especially exciting is learning how to edit videos. I love watching movies and of course I can spend way too much time on Youtube, so learning how to make and edit a captivating video is a strong goal of mine. I’ve been inspired by so many of the videos and poems P4CM has provided that I want to help keep new content available. Now when I wonder how someone made an interesting video, I can actually find out and then use new tools to experiment and create.

Here are just a few social media tools I now use after becoming a P4CM intern: Hootsuite, Meldium, Batchbook, Asana, Bitly and there are more. It’s like learning a new language, but I’m happy I get to work with so many social media tools. Mainly because the skills I’m learning now I know I can use later on in a professional setting. I’m gaining real skills that are in demand, and I get to experiment in an encouraging and supportive atmosphere.

Q: What are some of the struggles of an intern?

Cassy: An area that I struggle with is allowing myself room to be less than perfect. What I mean by this, is this internship has placed me in a position that has stretched me more than any other internship/position I have had in my past. I know that this internship will continue to show me areas about myself that need to improve. A simple struggle that I have noticed is sometimes concerning the tasks that are laid before me. Each week we are asked to write an article about a given topic, his has been something that has not come easy to me. I would not qualify myself as a great writer and is something that requires more of my time than other tasks. I am not someone who really enjoys writing, but when I do look at te big picture I do see how having the ability to write well and on a specific topic will come in handy in the future.

Kiahna: The biggest struggle for me has actually been writing articles. Every week Cassy and I are supposed to write an article on various topics that pop into TQs head. Writing has never been one of my favorite things to do, but I can already see how helpful it is to exercise my writing skills. Even though writing is sometimes an unwanted task, one writing exercise really helped me express myself in a more detailed way. We were asked to write about trials we faced and how we overcame them. It started out as a small article, but quickly turned into a long detailed testimony that I wouldn’t have shared otherwise. I’m glad that I’m getting a chance to grow as a Christian by being more transparent.

Q: What are you most excited about the internship as a whole?

Cassy: Something that I have enjoyed as an intern is the ability to have an outlit for my skills in a movement that that I believe so much in. I am excited about the people I am meeting who are using their skills and passions to glorify God. I am excited about the skills I am obtaining that will help build me as a leader. I am excited to see what God has in store for me and what he is preparing me to do/be apart of. I want to gain the knowledge/ skills to be able to build up an effective ministry, plan successful events such as Rhetoric and glorify God in all that I do.  I believe this internship has been a perfect fit for me and am just someone who wants to learn as much as I can.

Kiahna: I’m most excited about connecting with Christians all over the world in such a unique way. P4CM has always been trendy and cool, but the most important aspect has always been sharing our passion for Christ and sharing what Christ has done for us. While working behind the scenes I’ve witnessed a number of people commenting on how thankful they are that P4CM exists. I would still be living a depressed lukewarm “Christian” life, if I hadn’t received so much encouragement from P4CM. I am excited and thankful that I have the opportunity to share my passion for Christ in such a meaningful way.