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Originally an engineering student, I pivoted to a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Hispanic Studies after two gap years of work and travel. My fields of interest include community building, labour and immigrant rights, harm reduction, the solidarity economy, and policy work.

Given the wide range of careers possible with an arts degree, I wanted to explore a field completely different from my coursework:

arts and culture. Always having been interested in festivals and cultural events, I found Festival Acc猫s Asie to be the perfect opportunity to gain professional experience in these fields and to connect to my Asian heritage. Furthermore, the short length of this internship allowed me to take on another funded opportunity in the same summer.

Festival Acc猫s Asie is a month-long interdisciplinary festival held during Asian Heritage Month in May. The festival, often in partnership with local art organizations, hosts arts and culture events across Montreal. These events feature Asian artists, collectives, musicians, and NGOs, covering disciplines from music to poetry, culinary arts to theatre, all to promote the work of Asian artists and foster greater intercultural understanding. Going in, my main objectives were to understand the logistics and financing of a festival and to build connections in the local arts and culture scene.

During events which ran throughout the month of May, I greeted and entertained guests in four languages and supported the festival鈥檚 small team with various tasks. My co-intern Angela and I benefitted from a lot of freedom and time to enjoy the shows

and to mingle with attendees and artists, allowing us to meet a variety of interesting people from all walks of life and a multitude of professional backgrounds. After the festival ended, Angela and I spent two weeks in the office doing administrative work, such as updating the website and gathering social media data. During this time as the dust settled, we bonded with our kind and caring team of directors and coworkers. They eagerly answered questions, shared their stories, offered to connect us to others in the industry, and gave us pointers on where we could find our next opportunities.

If I had to describe my time at Festival Acc猫s Asie in two words, they would be 鈥榝un鈥� and 鈥榗onnection鈥�. Attending festival events never felt like work. At the Ghosts Within show at Sala Rossa, I caught the scarf a belly dancer threw into the crowd as part of her grand finale. After the performance, she let me keep the scarf as a souvenir, and we instantly became friends. At the Short&Sweet show, I stamped guests with a star-shaped stamp, telling each one, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a star because you are a star!鈥� Witnessing people鈥檚 joyful reactions was heartwarming, and comments like, 鈥淭his alone was worth coming for!鈥� made my night.

This internship gave me a greater understanding of the arts and culture industry in Montreal and a new appreciation for various art disciplines that were previously unfamiliar to me. I am thankful for the financial support I received from the Dean of Arts Development Fund.