This post is short - I want you to do most of the talking this week. Continuing or completing interns may answer the questions in the next paragraph; new interns should read the final paragraph and respond to the appropriate posts.
Although most interns this summer plan to continue to work through the end of Summer Session 2, a few of you are finishing your internship requirements this week. As you reflect on your experience, try to come up with the one thing which you believe has made the biggest positive impact on you through this internship and tell us about it here. And if there is one thing you could have made a better effort to do from the start (since some students are just beginning their internships), what would it be? Everyone who is continuing into second session is also welcomed to share your answers to these two questions.
Newcomers who are just beginning your internship, I invite you to introduce yourselves through a comment on the "Welcome" post and share a little about your internship plans as a comment on "Getting Started: The Workplace Environment."
Paul Klein:
ReplyDeleteThis one thing I would say impacted me the most. Ps. 84:10-12, which says that "A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you." Why these verses were so big: Leadership project is a time for fun and spending time building relationships while getting to know more of Jesus. This summer however I have had to play the "background" role of being in the office while everyone else is hanging out as it sometimes seems (not that I don't enjoy doing accounting work). So this Psalm says this- I would rather I have the lowest job (not that what I am doing is the lowest... it's not but sometimes I miss out on fun) in God's house than do anything else. My heart should rejoice that God has called me to be his servant no matter what I am doing. I should respond to any job that God has called me to with: "Yes! I cannot believe that you would ask a lowly man like me to work for you." These verse have been huge!!!!
Tony Micklon
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest impacts throughout my internship was working with a team to complete a group objective. I had to work with several engineers on every project during my internship, and it taught me how to work efficiently with other people of different backgrounds. This skill will be very important for me throughout my life as I try to enter the workforce and in my daily life. I do not think that I would change anything that I did during my internship. I have no regrets and I feel like my internship was very productive.
Through my internship I learned that going the extra step with people may have a large impact short term and long term. Not just with business, but socially as well. By going farther than expected, people learn to trust you, and are more willing to express that trust to others for future business. People will have a lot more respect for someone who shows a genuine interest for their situation rather than someone who simply gets the job done. I feel that going farther than people expect you to was a very important lesson I learned during my internship this summer.
ReplyDeleteScott Todd
ReplyDeleteThrough my internship, I developed a greater appreciation for my major, Political Science. Having lived and worked on Capitol Hill for six weeks, I was constantly surrounded by the political world. This internship helped me develop a greater understanding of politics, as well as current events in today's society. I learned the way our government works first hand, and saw with my own eyes the day to day duties of a Congressman. I would tell future interns to take advantage of every opportunity and to soak it all in, because it will be over before you know it.
Edward Snead
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing that has helped me has been basically absorbing every little bit of information or advice that my coworkers are willing to give. I have learned more by stoping what I'm doing to listen to their advice than anything else. It also makes them feel like you respect and value what they have to say even if you don't really care. But it has helped me both with the relationships with my them, and also learning about the company. I have no regrets and don't think I would change a thing.
Tracy Todd
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that has made a positive impact on me while working at Back to the Basics has to be the environment itself. It is so well-organized and inviting. I'm one of those people that loves organization and the fact that it's a daycare for children ranging from infants to 10 year old and it's still so organized and cleaned really impressed me. It let me know that they have great relationships with the kids and a lot of control, and it also let me know that the kids have great respect for them and I wanted to be apart of that. As for the one thing I could have made a better effort to do from the start, I could have introduced myself properly. I was so nervous that it wasn't until one of the kids asked me my name that I remembered I hadn't introduced myself to the kids or the other employees. That's definitely something I have to work on.
The thing that I benefited most from my intership was that I got a taste of many different aspects of the Greenville Drive. I was able to work in operations, make sales calls, and multiple other things. One thing I learned is attention to detail. Part of my job was to make sure everything is the ballpark was presentable. This required me to develop an eye for even the smallest things. It helped me do more detailed, better work.
ReplyDeleteJordan Pace
ReplyDeleteBeing able to juggle different personalities is the most important skill I've learned during my time in San Jose. There are 6 full-time employees and 2 other interns in the FCS section alone (not to mention over 100 other employees in the Embassy). Being able to handle and interact with the different personalities is key towards creating a productive work environment. For instance, Victor is a more quiet and reserved person who believes he deserves the utmost respect (likes to be called don Victor). Roy is a guy who you can constantly joke around with. Juggling the separate personalities within the office and appropriately interacting with them is a skill I can take with me for the rest of my life.
I can say with certainty that what I gained from my internship wasn't really a skill, but something even more important than that. Since I was dealing with historical artifacts fairly often in my internship, I had the epiphany that history is more than just reading a book about some old dead people that I have no connection with. Holding the artifacts in my hands and looking at them made me realize that these names on paper were real people, just like me, and that someday my things might be treated as artifacts for someone in the future. I got an appreciation that history is a living study of human beings, and that for me has been an amazing realization that makes me very glad I did this internship.
ReplyDeleteCarrie McClenaghan
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing I've learned so far is that a good relationship with clients is absolutely critical. In the field of psychology, someone who is being counseled must feel comfortable and welcome in order to really express how they are feeling. The people that I have worked with this summer have really shown positive attitudes and comforting personalities that help clients let go and express what they need to so that they can receive the feedback needed to improve their lives. One piece of advice for new interns is to ask questions! The people you are working with are experts in their fields and want to share their knowledge, especially to students who are interested in joining their field so don't hold back on your questions!
Tom Atkinson
ReplyDeleteBefore my internship I thought owning a kennel and training retrievers would be something I would enjoy. My internship did nothing but reinforce those feelings. I love working with labs, and the passion they have for retrieving is one of the most amazing things in the natural world. Some advice for future interns would be to do an internship that you think you will really enjoy and could see yourself doing as a career.