This summer I decided to be a little bit productive, since my future is coming up a little too quickly. So, instead of just watching Netflix all day or working at a camp. I chose to pick up 3 credits in the form of an internship. My goal was to be in and out, but instead I grew up a bit and ended up not wanting to leave.
Internships are an important part of any college student's career. I mean it is kind of crazy that we are expected to decide what we want to do for a majority of our life at such a young life. So, like trying out a car, you need to test drive your career.
Well, my test drive started three hours after my last final, which also happened to be my hardest. This step of my internship included signing papers, getting one too many shots, and having my blood drawn. Two days later I was sitting in a room listening about documentation, getting more shots, and regretting my decision to intern.
You see, I am a psychology major and honestly I cannot do anything in my field of work with my bachelor's degree. That means I will have to invest another four years in school. And to be real with you, that is terrifying. I had to be sure that I was making the right choice in terms of major, but at the beginning point I was counting down the seconds I was finished with each day. I mean what can a non graduated psych major actually do that doesn't included filing papers and going on coffee runs?
Well, I learned that all I could actually do was file papers and organize, but I was also going to be learning more about psychology than I did in the classroom. My internship was very open ended yet structured. Honestly, I never knew what I would be doing day-to-day, and I had to make sure that I got all that I could from my internship.
However, one thing that made my internship worth all of the shadowing and filing. After many early mornings, the many hours of driving back and forth, and the lack of pay I gained some killer confidence. Being in the working world is very different than daily life, and slowly conquering it makes everything worthwhile.
I had to learn how to look professional with an unprofessional wardrobe. I also had to learn how to be called out on mistakes and be okay with the jokes that come from them. I had to get over my fear of talking to adults because I actually am one. And I had to tell people what I wanted to do and learn and still go with the flow.
Through all of that I was able to make some really great connections. I learned how to make it to my internship on time and still get that cup of coffee from Starbuck's in the morning. And I realized that through this internship I made the correct choice in my major. Now the next step is to graduate and get into graduate school.