The BIA from a Students Eyes
By: Lily McEwen
Since starting with the BIA mid-September, I have gained so much amazing experience that I figured it’s only fair to share it with everyone in this blog.
I am in my final year at Centennial Secondary School, bound for a university communications program in the fall, and decided to join the Co-op program as a way of gaining experience and solidifying what I aspire to do in life. This landed me in my position as a marketing assistant at the Belleville Downtown District BIA.
It was terrifying on my first day. As a teenager, working in an office is not my go-to idea of fun. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun, and I learned that pretty quickly.
Lucky for me, I was walking into an office of three incredibly kind and inspirational women, who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel comfortable right away.
I may have come to learn about media and marketing, but that didn’t stop me from also learning about the Welcoming Streets program and all the amazing work Sara does for our community, along with all the work that goes into the Executive Director position that Luisa handles so well.
They didn’t teach me much about marketing or communications, but I still learned how to be helpful to the community and about how important it is to set goals and achieve them as a leader.
Like I said, I started here to learn from Tiffany, the Media and Marketing Officer, and I definitely did. You never think too hard about any posts on your timelines until you are drafting them every day. It was so much fun experimenting with captions and choosing photos to match.
Writing has always been something I really enjoy, so being able to research and write blogs about so many different topics like Snap a Pic in the Downtown District, Choose Downtown for your Holiday Shopping, Welcoming Streets Facilitating Change in Downtown Belleville and Porchfest After Party. Writing these has allowed me to practice something I love and a skill that I will carry with me to any future job I might get.
But, I can pick up skills anywhere. Any workplace will teach you the appropriate skills, but the BIA is not just any workplace.
I’m not positive about it, but I don’t think any of my co-op classmates can say that they have done photography, chatted with business owners and enjoyed the holidays with their employers like I can.
One of my favourite Christmas memories this year was the holiday party we had with the office. We not only got dinner, but also went to Ded Eye to throw axes and take out any built up holiday stress.
It was right around then when I realized how much I had really begun to fit in. Ironically, that was the last day I worked with Tiffany, and it was pretty hard to say goodbye to someone who had put so much work into guiding me. Even my co-op teacher was impressed with her and the way she handled having a student the whole semester.
I was even alone in the office with Tiffany when I got my first ever acceptance to one of my top schools, and she took photos and got just as excited for me as my parents did when I told them.
It has been such a pleasure working with all the lovely people I met, and it was even better as a young person questioning if I had made the right choices about school, knowing that I was on the right track.
Outside of the professional experience, it was also amazing the appreciation I grew to have for Downtown. Every event or feature just seemed so much better after seeing what went into it.
