I will be the first one to admit that my summer job is one of the coolest things I've ever done. I get to gain experience in a great field, work with wonderful people, and have adventures that I would never have had otherwise. But when I post something about it on Facebook or talk to people about it, I always cringe when they get to the inevitable comment: "Oh my gosh! You're so lucky!" No. No, I'm not.
When I decided I wanted to do an internship this summer, I compiled a list of places I may want to work, updated my resume, pulled together some of my work for a digital portfolio, and tried to get my adult act together. After I did that, I started calling. And emailing. And if the person in charge of internships was out, I would email and call again. I kept doing this until I got the internship that I wanted. I gave up part of my Spring Break to drive down and meet with the manager about my job and the expectations.
Five days after taking my last final, I started my internship. In those five days, I moved all of my belongings from my school to back home, then from my home to the city where my internship is. But that Monday morning, I was there at 9 a.m. And from that moment on, I worked my butt off.
Whether it's making copies for the receptionist, spending a week putting together a sales kit, joking around on air, interviewing celebrities, writing blog posts, hosting events, or just doing Photoshop, I have done exactly what's asked of me, sometimes more. This past weekend, I worked at a country music festival. We had artists stop by our tent to hang out and do meet and greets, and the tent was a great place to watch any of the 30-plus acts for the weekend. While this was great, I was also filling coolers, posting on Twitter, making sure the tent didn't turn into a trash can, straightening things, and just generally keeping everything up. I was rewarded with getting to meet Jason Aldean backstage before his set.
Meeting Jason Aldean was really cool, I'm not gonna lie. But I helped out all weekend. I did whatever needed to be done. I became someone that people could come to with problems and know that they would be fixed and taken care of to the best of my ability. And that means more to me than any meet and greet ever could because I love helping people.
The bottom line is that yes, I have one of the coolest jobs on the face of the planet this summer. I get to do some really cool things. But it has nothing to do with luck. Even before I got the job, I was busting my butt to get it. Now that I have it, I still work hard every day because that's what I expect of myself and nothing less. If I relied on luck, I wouldn't be where I am today. Next time you think "she's so lucky," think instead "I bet she's worked hard to get here." Then, you'll be correct.
