My first impression of EAG was somewhat overwhelming. My teacher had definitely understated the office’s vibe when she described it as “pretty cool.” Moss walls and glass architecture give the space a sophisticatedly naturalistic atmosphere. Feeling both intimidated and intrigued by the wall of client logos that framed the meeting room, I sat down and introduced myself to the good folks at EAG.
I’m Toby, a high school student at Académie Lafayette International High School. This summer, my friend, Micah, and I were lucky enough to score an internship at EAG Advertising & Marketing. I must not have been in their carefully curated target audience, because I had never heard of EAG before our school’s IB coordinator mentioned their internship opportunity. Of course, I jumped on the offer. After quickly googling “What does an intern do” and seeing a whole lot of big words I didn’t have the energy to read, I asked the IB coordinator. As it turns out, being an intern is amazing. Job experience, skill development, connections. In other words, the perfect summer gig. 
My approach to learning new skills is a technique called “motivational responsibility.” This method amounts to me convincing people that I can do work I most definitely cannot, procrastinating, and then learning how to do said work in a matter of anxiety-wracked hours. Working with EAG gave me the same sense of responsibility, but without all the unbearable stress!
Watching professionals work with the same tools I use at home bypassed the “language barrier,” giving me a totally unique look into the mind of an expert designer. In terms of learning, the jump from lethargic YouTube videos to experienced teachers is massive. For a while, we learned from EAG’s creatives, Ashley and Derrick, but after a few weeks, we began the primary focus of our internship: producing a video showcasing the office all while building an accompanying footage library. Micah and I first worked out a plan for the video, all while suffering severe criticism from Ashley, like the time she told us, “You can’t set off smoke bombs in the lobby.”
Filming was tons of fun, especially the part when we got chased by cicada-eating hornets. Ah, summer.
Seriously though, it was fun. Every Wednesday, we would pull out my camera and start filming anything that breathed. I’m convinced pulling an SD card and sitting down to review a day of shooting is the single most spiritual act one can perform. Believe me, nothing gets me feeling like an unbothered Tibetan monk quite like watching shaky 4k and pretending everything’s fine. But eventually, the 4k became silky smooth, and we started getting genuinely useful footage. Remember, you only need a few things to break into the world of videography: perseverance, tons of funding, connections, creativity, passion, even more funding, and heart. We had perseverance, a camera, and unsurmountable credit card debt. We made do.
Thanks again to EAG for the great experience. I think we really accomplished something great: a perfectly symbiotic relationship. You gave us an invaluable crash course in the world of marketing and advertising, and we filmed your unsuspecting employees.
Thank you, Ashley and Derrick, for your sage tutelage and kind words, Jeff, for the great LinkedIn guide, and to all the other fantastic people at EAG, for being so great to work with and occasionally pester. Micah and I are now exhaustively prepared to go out into the world and perform (small business) miracles in the world of advertising and marketing. Peace!
-Tobias Kates