Stage 1: Anticipation
You’ve been anticipating starting your internship all semester, and tomorrow is your first day. You have no idea what to expect. What will the people in your office be like? What type of work are you going to be doing? Will you know how to do it? You are so nervous you can’t sleep. You have the perfect outfit to wear on your first day that you searched weeks for. You’re still not quite sure what “business casual” means, but your mom says you look cute and professional and moms are always right. Your BFF gives you a pep talk via text. You remind yourself how hard you worked to land this job and the endless hours you have spent studying the past three years. You are ready to embrace being the new office intern.
Stage 2: Shambles
You get to your internship and all your confidence fades quickly. You tripped in your heels while walking into your new office, but luckily only the janitor saw. You walk in and are greeted by your mentor. They show you your cubicle and introduce you to everyone on the floor. How in the world are you ever supposed to remember everyone’s names? You just want to go hide at your desk ... but wait, which cubicle is yours again? You get your assignment list from your supervisor, and you have no idea what any of it means. Luckily your mentor is there to explain it to you, but everything they say is like a foreign language. You begin to wonder if you ever actually learned anything in school. This is how the first two weeks are. You adopt the motto of “fake it 'til you make it,” but you are pretty sure you will never make it.
Stage 3: Hatred
A couple weeks go by and you have finally started understanding your assignments thanks to your mentor, but you still are not used to the “real world." Every morning at 5 a.m., you drag yourself out of bed and wonder how people do this every day. You consider yourself a morning person, but this is just insane. You chug coffee all morning to help you keep your eyes open. During lunch you browse Instagram and wish you were out getting a tan with your friends instead of sitting in your cubicle all day. When 2 p.m. rolls around, you hit your mid-afternoon slump. Three more hours of work seems unbearable, but 5 p.m. comes and somehow you survived another day. You leave the office excited to go home and enjoy your evening ... that is, until you remember that you have to get up and do it all again tomorrow, and the next day, and continually for the next 40 years.
Stage 4: Acceptance
Two more weeks go by and your body becomes accustomed to waking up at 5 a.m. and spending eight straight hours at a desk. All the work you have been assigned really begins to make sense, and you are actually getting to use some of the knowledge you acquired at school (your professors would be so proud). You now know all your co-workers names and are really starting to get to know everyone. Missing out on a summer with your friends at the pool is worth it when you receive your paychecks and are reminded of how good this will look on your resume. You decide to embrace this daily routine and make the most of it, because you will be doing it for the rest of your life.
Stage 5: Love
You are now over half way done with your internship and you realize you don’t ever want to leave. In the words of Michael Scott, “This place is freaking awesome! The people are awesome! Your boss is nice!” You now not only know everyone’s names, but you know about their family as well. You are not only just the intern, but have become the office therapist. Your co-workers stop by your desk to talk about their kids and neighbors and so on, and you offer a listening ear. They, in return, offer you career advice and tell you to follow your dreams. Instead of paying to study and take exams, you are getting paid to do work and hang around these nice people. You decide you aren’t returning back to school in the fall, because the real world is actually pretty awesome.
Stage 6: Denial
You begin to pretend that your internship isn’t going to end and that you will just stay here forever. You can’t imagine leaving these people and going back to school to study your life away with your classmates again. You begin to savor the insanely early mornings and every free cup of coffee you sip in the break room.The days now pass by much too quickly, and you’re wishing time would slow down. You spend too much time walking around and chatting with your co-workers, but it’s only because you are going to miss them. The only thing good about going back to school is getting to tell all your friends and classmates about your amazing summer and all the new friends you made at your office. You tell yourself that this is just a see you later and maybe one day you'll get to come back. You've accepted that you will embarrass yourself and cry on your last day, but it's okay because you're still just the intern.
