Interning is a right of passage in the professional world. Everyone who’s anyone has done it and no two internships are alike; some are awesome, some…not so much. Regardless, there’s one experience that binds us all together: what your first internship was really like.
You know what they say, you never forget your first time. Admit it. No matter how far you’ve come since then, you remember the first time you messed something up, the first time your boss yelled at you and the first time in your adult life you wanted to run out of a public place crying.
For those of you with shaky memories, we’re breaking down what your first internship is really like with a little help from our friends at Dunder Mifflin.
The first day of your first internship you showed up eager and ready to work. You felt invincible; ready to handle whatever challenges life–or your entire office–threw your way.
Someone shows you to your desk and you feel like a total boss.
The workload always starts out nice and light so you spend the first few weeks trying to get higher ups to notice you.
Eventually they start calling you by your real name and saying “hi” at the water cooler. Yes!
Suddenly everyone has some assignment they’d need you to get done and the tasks start piling on.
And piling…
…and piling.
You slowly but surely learn to appreciate coffee and all its glorious benefits…
…and wish you could go back to the days when no one knew your name.
With your increased workload comes great responsibility and you just can’t seem to get it right. You make a ton of mistakes.
A ton.
You will get yelled at.
And learn to bite your tongue.
Then comes the breakdown. This can go one of two ways…
You’ll find yourself crying in front of complete strangers and not caring…
…Or just accept failure.
But before you get to feeling like this…
Remember, when it’s all said and done and you land the job of your dreams, you realize it was all worth it. So hang in there interns! You’ll make it through. Keep in mind: Once you land a full-time gig, you’ll be the one bossing interns around.
