Internships can be a nerve-racking experience, working and doing “adult” things especially. Pursuing a job that you have been studying for the past few years of college. Thoughts are constantly running through your head, “What if I don’t like it?” and “What if I’m not cut out for the job?” I’m here to tell you not to worry! Internships are experiences in themselves, you don’t know what you are getting into unless you test it out first. I would much rather do an internship and find out you don’t like the field than acquire a full-time job and be stuck doing something that you absolutely hate.
At your internship, I would tell you to expect anything, you never know what is going to happen or who you will be around. In my case, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with so many important and special people. In some cases, you don’t know who you are talking to so just keep the conversation going you never know who you’re going to meet, that’s the best part.
Being friendly is a good trait not only to have at your internship but in general, this hints back to my point of not knowing who you are going to meet. In my case, the baseball team I work for, the Utica Blue Sox, traveled to Cooperstown to play an exhibition game. At the game there was a group of scouts and the interns and I got to talking to them, next thing you know we were holding one of the San Francisco Giants World Series rings. I know, crazy, right? Moral of that story, just be friendly to everyone and you never know who you are going to meet!
Expect to become pretty good friends with your other co-workers or interns. Figure you spend a big chunk of time together might as well be friendly and develop bonds with them. These are people you’re never going to forget! All the trials and errors you have with them will end up being experiences you’ll go back and laugh about even if it wasn’t funny at the time. The interns you work with are a good opportunity to get out and meet new people, most of the time they come from all over the country. There will be times where it is tense and you might not like some of the people you work with but in the end you’re going to miss it. I know personally I’ll miss working with my interns, I’m writing this as the season isn’t even over yet. I just hope wherever I work next that I have the same connection as I have with my current interns.
In conclusion, I would say keep an open mind when starting a new internship, you never know where it’s going to take you and you’ll never know how beneficial it was until you do it. I think one should never turn down an internship because it isn’t paid, I’ve had the best summer of my life working unpaid for the Utica Blue Sox.
