I'm sure that many of us have experienced having to travel in order to get to your job or internship. Whether it is a short ride or a two-hour commute, it is definitely worth it if you are going to your job or internship that you love. I have an internship for the summer as an editorial assistant for the "Hudson Valley Parent" magazine located in Newburgh, NY. As my internship is coming to an end, I am definitely realizing how worth it this internship was, even if the commute was an hour long. In honor of the commute I had to take three days a week during the summer, here is what usually occurs that many of us could agree with if you also have to take a long commute.
Getting Up Earlier
Since the internship is an hour away from my home, I had to make sure that I got up at an earlier time. I didn't have to go in until 9:30 a.m. so getting up early was not a problem for me as someone who loves to sleep in. The night before is the time for me to get ready for my internship the next day. I would have my clothes picked out, lunch made, and bag ready for me to run out the door in the morning.
Dealing with Traffic and Bad Drivers
Traffic can always be a pain. Luckily for me, there was never any bad traffic on my way to my internship and on my way back. All the traffic would end up going the opposite way of where I was going so I got to pass by all the traffic. The only main issue was the bad drivers. I'm not saying that I am a good driver either but I did witness a lot of different drivers. There were drivers that were so slow they were under the speed limit. The commute that I took was mainly one road all the way down and being stuck behind a slow driver made me anxious that I wasn't going to make it to my internship on time. The worst, however, had to be the drivers that would speed and had nasty attitudes. I would be driving at a normal speed and cars would literally be almost on top of my car or they would whip their cars around me. It was another reminder to me of how crazy people are.
Making Sure You Have Good Music
The main highlight of my commute is getting the chance to listen to music and sing my heart out with no one witnessing it. At first I was fine with listening to the radio but of course, the songs get way too repetitive. I managed to use my old iPod Nano and updated it with new songs. I kept updating my IPod so that the songs would not get old. I did find that "One Dance" by Drake never got repetitive for me and it always woke me up when I was driving at 8 in the morning.
Clearing Your Mind
Although there are always ups and downs to a long commute, from being able to get Dunkin' Donuts to always having to get gas, I did always enjoy it. It was the time spent reflecting on all the great things that I was able to accomplish at my internship and the excitement of going home and relaxing. I always loved long car rides so this commute was definitely not as bad as I thought now that my internship is ending.
