Ask any college student in the country, and I mean any single one, how much pressure they are under to basically become the greatest person ever. You walk into your first day as a freshman and it’s like you’ve been thrown into a "Hunger Games" arena and everyone is your opponent — may the least burned out win.
Luckily for me, I was able to land an incredible internship in the Capitol this past spring and couldn’t have been more excited. I was not only going to be in the thick of all the political action, but have my own office (!!!) and feel like Elle Woods.
Turns out, the word "office" can be used loosely, and I was planted in a glorified shoe box. Also, I was not greeted as if I were Elle Woods, I was greeted as if I was just another scratch on the wallpaper, and pretty much ignored. Frustrated, I sat down to my computer, ready to give up. I was being treated like a pack mule with files and ignored by nearly everyone in the hallways, all while desperately trying to dig $1.25 out of my purse for a Diet Coke fix I needed.
And then it hit me. I was being treated like an adult. How could I not notice that? I had so desperately whined and pleaded with my parents, my teachers, any adult really, to treat me like a grown up my entire life, and I had it. I was chosen because they believed me to handle it; they believed me to be prepared. I could not let these people down, and I could not let myself down. If I wanted to be Elle Woods, I was going to have to work like Elle Woods.
Throughout the rest of legislative session, I worked to prove myself and began to understand what it was that I was doing and why I was there. I came up with five rules to keep in mind for my future experiences.
1. You are not always going to love your internship
Part of being an intern means that you’re doing the work no one else higher up wants to do, and that makes it about 10 times less exciting than what you thought you’d be doing. But think of how it will look on your resume!
2. Embrace the boring stuff
Paperwork and filing may seem like the least exciting things you can possibly think of, imagine how much you’re learning just by looking through all that paperwork you loathe. I know that by reading the long, tedious case files and draw ups of new legislation that I thought would make my eyeballs fall out, I found myself picking up on what I was actually learning. Funnily enough, you grow a little attached to the quiet moments spent with the paperwork.
3. Take any opportunity to go the extra mile
I know that for me, leaving at the end of the day seemed like what I looked forward to for the first few weeks. It was my light at the end of the tunnel, and I started thinking about it as soon as I entered my shoe box. However, I found that by taking a little extra work or staying a little longer, you make friends and you make friends fast.
4. Be friendly; make connections
That standoffish, older guy that you see every day may seem weird or scary, but just by smiling or saying hello, you could start a casual acquaintanceship—and that acquaintance could really help you out one day (he’s how I got the extra quarters for my Diet Coke).
5. Remember how much this will help you
On days when my alarm would go off at 7:30 a.m. I had to remember how incredibly lucky I was. How many other students had the opportunity I did? How many others got to say they worked in an incredible place? Keep in mind how great this will be for you, and get out of bed.
Whether the internship is only to look good on a resume or whether you believe you will love what you do with it, take the chance. Gather the experience, the resume boost, and the connections and accept the privilege that you are a college student and someone wants to treat you like an adult. The arena is going to be a tough one when we graduate, it is better to go into it as prepared as possible.
