Summer internship, a phrase most college students are very familiar with. Everyone knows from everyone and their mother that they are great ways to gain experience and that they look good on a resume.
If you're lucky, you'll land a coveted paid internship, which adds just another layer of sweetness to the whole experience. If you land a summer internship while in college, there are certain things I'm sure you expect. As someone who just finished their first one, I've got the inside scoop for anyone with burning curiosities. Without further ado:
1. You're going to be perpetually tired.
Every day will be waking up early, driving to your internship, working, working, working, running around, working, and coming home to eat, sleep, and do it all again. Even if you do get to bed at a decent hour (like I definitely did, obviously, why do you ask?), the weekend will be a welcome time to recharge.
2. Your internship is all you will think about.
Remember just a short time ago when all you could think of were your exams, and that project that had to be done in the next 48 hours, and all those reading assignments slowly piling up? Yeah, that's what it will feel like again. Even when you go home, you will be thinking of all the things you'll have to do the next morning or communicating with other people on your team while fitting in an episode of that show you're binge watching.
3. You will make fast friends and connections.
There's just something about spending hours and days with the same people that really encourages fast bonding. People you've never met before or people whose names you could hardly remember will now be people you casually send funny Facebook videos to on the weekend. You won't even realize when it happens, but it does. Trust me.
4. It will go by faster than you think.
I'll be the first to admit that the first two days dragged on longer than I thought possible. But then suddenly it's week two, and then I blink and there are only two days left. Not that you won't be happy it's over, but you will feel strange to have all that free time all of a sudden.
5. You will learn more than you expect.
These things look good on a resume for a reason. I knew the person who took me on for my internship pretty well and had worked with them in a different setting prior to this. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. And I did, but wow did I stumble at the beginning. I asked so many questions, and there was a lot of trial and error those first three days especially. It actually really makes you appreciate all the work that goes into the summer programs you attended when you were younger.
If you take anything away from this, let it be that yes, I did enjoy my summer internship. Yes, it is my opinion that if you can get one, you should do it. And yes, prepare to do a lot of work to get as much out of it as possible. Summer internships: not just resume fillers pushed by guidance counselors.
