When asked about your plans for the summer, I bet your goal is to brag about some fancy internship in New York City. This beats working at a summer camp any day! Sure, summer internships are not always what they are cracked up to be. We often have high expectations that are not always met 100%. However, I learned a lot this summer—about myself, the industry I worked in, cooperating in an office environment, and life in general.

Here are some of the most valuable things that I learned this summer:

1. Be punctual. Everyone appreciates someone who can work efficiently. This is such an important skill to have and you will be respected for it.
2. Always ask if you can do more. If you finish what your boss asks you to do, do not sit on your phone and text your friends. Ask around the office to see if anyone needs your help. This will show that you are interested and eager to help out, and your coworkers will appreciate it.
3. There will be some days that you have no work to do—but that’s okay! Enjoy it because before you know it, you will be back in the library stressing over that calculus exam and that psych paper.
4. Your boss does not think that you are dumb. You may feel this way if the only work that you are given is to assemble 50 boxes, label 200 bottles, and scan magazine articles into the computer. Unfortunately, this is the type of work that summer interns are supposed to do. It is a rite of passage—everyone has been in your position and has done this kind of work.
5. Do not be afraid to ask questions. This is your time to figure out what you want to do with your life. If you find something that really interests you, ask about it! If you want to sit in on that meeting, ask if you can! Worst case scenario is that they will say no. However, they will appreciate your curiosity and keep in mind that you are eager to learn.
6. It is okay to eat lunch alone. Embrace it, soon enough you will wish that you had some alone time when you are surrounded by people 24/7 at school.
7. You are not supposed to be best friends with the people in your office. This is why our work and social lives are separate. It is important to get along with these people, but they do not have to be your best friends.
8. It doesn’t matter how good you look on paper. Just because you made dean’s list every semester and won that writing award doesn't make you the right candidate for every job. It is important to be well spoken and confident. People care about your resume, but they also care about how you present yourself and how well you can hold a conversation.
9. Networking is one of the most important skills to have. You never know when it will come in handy that your sister’s, camp friend’s, cousin’s, best friend is the CEO of that company. Use LinkedIn to your advantage.
10. You may realize that you do not want to work in the field that you thought you wanted to originally work in. This is okay too! The whole point of having an internship is to learn. Wouldn’t you rather figure this out now than have to switch careers five years out of college?
11. Commuting is a pain. At first I thought it would be nice to have an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon to just relax, listen to music, and catch up with friends. But, the trains are never on time and always have issues during the summer. This is extremely annoying when you just want to put on sweatpants and watch TV after a long day of work.
12. You don’t want to grow up. It’s fun to be a college student and to not have to spend your days staring at a computer screen and sitting in a boring office! You have the rest of your life to channel your inner businessperson, so be thankful for that.