Life as an intern is so underrated. As a college student, working at an office all week for the summer is not an optimal choice. We only get to return home for three months after spending a long nine months grinding in school. Taking into consideration our bank accounts and everything we want to accomplish in our futures, intern life is definitely the best life.
First of all, internships provide the best preparation for real-world jobs, without actually having the responsibility of a professional in the business world. It is so important to have at least one internship throughout your college career. You can make all of your first mistakes with an experienced team behind you. Having one or two internships on your resume will put you on the same level, or at least close to it, as your colleagues when you start your first job. Practice makes perfect, so internships are not to be passed up.
Last week I started my summer internship as a research assistant. The first day is always intimidating, having to acclimate yourself to a new environment where you don't know anyone. Especially since it's common with internships to be one of the youngest people at the office, it may be more difficult at first to find common ground with your new colleagues. It was definitely strange for me to hear my team members talk about moving to their new homes, or having to take care of the kids after work. All I had to offer with my big life experiences was that I made it through my freshman year of college. But there aren't better interests to share than working together on solving real-world problems and bettering the community.
Collaboration and networking are two huge skills and assets not to be under-appreciated ever in life, especially in internships. Building relationships and getting involved with all sorts of different people in companies is something great to take advantage of. Not only will you have established people for future recommendations and collaboration, you also have the opportunity to learn so much from people with such esteemed experiences. Internships truly are taking everything you've learned in the past 12-16 years of school and applying it to something that matters in the world.
Your internship may not even be something you truly think you want to pursue later in life, but that doesn't necessarily matter. The experience is the ultimate gain of the job. As long as you put forth your hardest effort, it is guaranteed that the experience of your internship will stick with you for the rest of your career.
