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Internship gives view of real world

Elizabeth Miller

As a result of my summer internship in a large corporation, I am now the greatest coffee brewer I know. I am also an expert paper filer, speedy envelope stuffer and phenomenal data inputer. I'm now BFF with the copy machine and I'm convinced that those fax machines never had someone push their buttons so well. I wonder how my employers could have ever survived without my diligent work!

This summer I interned for a Christian publishing company in Colorado. Inevitably, there was grunt work. It's an intern's right of passage. And sometimes you have to just laugh at the ridiculous things they ask you to do. Otherwise you would want to shoot yourself.

I had a friend who was working in an engineering internship this summer. His first assignment involved a handful of keys and a box full of locks. The assignment was to figure out which keys matched which locks. I believe his phrasing was, "a monkey could do my job." Yes, interning can be a quite the humbling experience.

When I wasn't doing grunt work or taking advantage of free company coffee or checking out the cute young guy in human resources (no, he wasn't married, I checked), I truly got to see the good, the bad and the ugly of the business world. Mostly the good, but the occasional glimpse of the ugly politics of American business that made me want to join the Peace Corps in Africa.

In college we take these things called classes that supposedly give us training for the career world. But the career world and career culture are entirely different matters. It's a shame that Management 111 will not actually make us ready for the business world.

College classes could never have taught me the art of respecting The Man, the manner of handling myself when I'm the low woman on the totem pole, and the culture of cubicles (apparently cubicles aren't sound proof, and that's a lesson to be learned sooner than later, trust me). I learned that the business world is invigorating and challenging and exciting, but at 20 years old, I'm admittedly not mature enough yet. I proved this when I challenged my fellow interns to a race in the office chairs. But I think I will be ready - eventually. For now I'm OK with not being ready for cubicle life. I'm OK with not being ready to answer to The Man every day. I'm OK with upholstered furniture on my front porch, Raman noodles in my cupboard and spending the weekday in pajama pants.

The first internship is always a little rocky in the beginning. It's like playing dress up in your mom's high heels when you're five. But eventually you grow into them, just as you grow into the career world. Now I can go into my next internship with those basic intern skills under my belt. Well, at least the coffee- making part.


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