My ACUHO-I Summer Internship experience was one of the most meaningful opportunities of my career. This was due not only to being at a great place, on a beautiful campus, with great people and having unlimited access to an intern golf cart. It was because mentors and supervisors prepped me to not piss off my internship site. More importantly, they taught me how to avoid mediocrity.
No matter what your internship is, where it is or what your title is you have one simple job: MAKE THEIR LIVES EASIER WHILE YOU'RE LEARNING TO BE AWESOME FOR THE FUTURE.
It's really that simple.
Now there are fantastic books about supervising internship experiences (Learning Through Supervised Practice, etc). Strangely enough there are NO books on being an awesome employee and/or summer intern. This is learned through experience, self reflection, mentorship and ultimately through making mistakes. The flow of this thought process is outlined below:
1. Get to know your non-negotiable expectations.
2. Work hard.
3. Take a smart risk.
4. See what happens.
5. Reflect on said risk.
6. Thank all those who let you make it happen.
Alright, beyond all of that, I have a few thoughts on how to have a really awesome experience.
1. THIS ISN'T YOUR CURRENT INSTITUTION.
Well. Unless you're sticking around for your summer. Either way, this is something new. These are new people, new departments, new norms, new cultures and ultimately a new experience. With that you need to realize you have new expectations. A new means of communication. A new way to get work done. As an intern you have an insanely short period of time to learn these things. It's imperative that you speed up the process by throwing out your assumptions and become a blank slate. One way to help get to know your new supervisor is to create a expectations/successfully working together document. Be honest about who you are and what you need. Also know you need to be flexible and move out of your comfort zone.
2. SUMMER IS CRAZY. EMBRACE IT.
This is especially important if you're working summer conferences. In the short amount of time you have things will move really fast. Summer is the time that most campuses are welcoming guests of all ages, putting on awesome summer school programs and everyone is at least attempting to get some time away. You're going to work a lot. LOVE IT. EMBRACE IT. ENJOY IT. You can either let crazy make you crazy or you can let it motivate you to work harder, faster and smarter.
3. IT'S YOUR JOB TO MAKE LIFE EASIER.
That means being flexible and taking initiative. Most internship host sites have a short amount of time to get you trained and ready to work. There will be gaps in your training because you couldn't possibly be trained for everything. Roll with it, smile, laugh and file the experience away for another day. What this also means is when it does slow down FIND SOMETHING TO HELP WITH! Don't just ask, take initiative. Don't just wait to be introduced to others. Introduce yourself.
4. THE SUMMER BOTH IS AND IS NOT ABOUT YOU.
I realize these are conflicting. On one hand it is very much about you learning and growing. On the other hand, the summer is mostly about you giving the institution what they need to be successful. Some places will guide you through active reflections while others will not. Some will set up meetings with other areas on campus. Some will expect you to make this happen. No matter what you need to know that the institution and what they need comes first. By serving you will learn.
5. BE HUMBLE.
Where you came from, what you did before and what awards you have won or will win simply DOES NOT matter. You are there to learn from others. Trust me, they know more than you.
Here's to an awesome summer.
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