Summer is Halfway Done

Wow - time flies when you are having fun! Not only is my summer internship halfway (ok, more like 1/3 of the way) done, the actual SUMMER is about halfway done. MAP was done two months ago (we got a good grade), and i'm a little over two months before school starts.

Work's going really well! i really like this job, and this is so what I should be doing. I can also really see myself here full time, so there is even more pressure on my part to get an offer. Although, at this point, I'm thinking I'll be in good shape - my manager is very pleased with the work I've done thus far. That makes me very happy. I know I've still got quite a ways to go, but it's always nice to make a good first impression. :)

I think I like it so much because I almost don't feel like an "intern". I know I am, but I'm doing real, day-to-day work, so I really just feel like part of the brand team. And I've gotten to do some high-profile stuff. Sometimes I wish we had fewer "intern" events/lunches since it's hard to find time to do the actual work, but I've enjoyed them nonetheless.

One thing I did not expect was this "intern paranoia". This isn't to be confused with "overly competitive". Basically, you get scared that every single thing you do is being evaluated. Like "did I say the right thing in the casual meeting with so-and-so?" or "oh no, I used Tahoma font instead of Arial font, hope that makes me fit in", or "uh oh, I sneezed. Hope they don't take that to mean I'm allergic to the company culture". OK, it's not quite that bad, but since I'm constantly being evaluated (and because our pictures are everywhere with signs saying "the interns are coming"), and there's this whole "job offer" thing hanging over my head, I've tended to freak out at certain things.

We'll see. I've got my midpoint review in the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck!

Getting used to work again...

Wow, long time no blog. It's been a month! Insane! Between finishing school, travelling a little bit, visiting friends/family, moving to new place (again), trying to find my way around (again), new job, new lingo, new coworkers, new boss...let's just say I've been busy. Good busy though - Michigan ends EARLY, so I've kind of been bored for about a month with nothing to do.

Things are going well. I'm liking my project, my boss seems cool, I like my fellow interns, and this company is a really good fit for me. It's definitely going to be a challenging job but I can get a lot out of it. My goal: get an offer. No matter if I see myself here full-time, getting the offer is going to make life in the fall much better. I am still nervous about my project b/c it seems kinda huge, but we'll see...I know it'll be good once I figure it out. Hell, if I can figure out the MAP lingo (and MAP is basically a 6-week internship), I can figure out my new company lingo.

Although things are going well - there are some challenges. Mostly getting used to working again. It's hard to get up, have to actually plan an outfit (instead of the jeans/t-shirt that happens to be clean combo at b-school), get to the office, and stay there all day. I'm a little nervous that b-school has decreased my attention span and my capacity to actually be at one place for longer than an hour and a half...Everyone is going through this. Though it will be nice to get paid. :) And to look forward to receiving money that I don't have to pay back eventually!

More to come during the summer as I figure things out.