This summer I earned the opportunity to intern with The AroundCampus group. I was one of the lucky 650 chosen interns out of the 12,000 applicants who were hired. If you aren’t familiar with this company, I am responsible for selling ad space for Appalachian’s student planner. Remember those free planners that they gave to you as a freshman? Yeah that’s me. Essentially I am going around to businesses in Boone, attempting to convince them why they should advertise in the student planner.
I thought this internship would be a piece of cake, and I have never been more wrong in my life. During the first day, mid-sales pitch at Anna Banana’s, the woman I spoke with told me flat out no. That was the 25th time I was told no that day. I immediately started tearing up and had to walk out – thankfully there was a lot of incense in that building so I could blame my tears on that. I had never been more ready to quit a job. Between sobs on the phone with my mom, she managed to convince me that I could hold out for a few more days to see how it went.
Fast forward to my fifth week in this internship. I have made nine sales and have met some VERY interesting people. One stand out was a 70-year-old business owner. He explained that he was planning on opening a topless juice bar. Unfortunately Boone does not allow a topless bar to serve alcohol, so naturally he wanted to serve juice, yogurt, and smoothies. I continued to smile and nod during this entire explanation and ensured him it would be a hit with the freshmen boys. So if you ever hear about a topless juice bar opening in Boone you heard it here first.
So far I have made it to the halfway point of my internship and could not be happier for pushing through that first day. It has been more of an emotional roller coaster than a season of Grey’s Anatomy but well worth it. I can honestly say I have never appreciated the inspirational quotes that Pinterest has to offer until now. That being said I am excited to see what the rest of the summer holds for me.
One thing that I have already taken away from this experience is learning how to take rejection and how to fail. Most of the time these businesses see me walking through the door and give me one look and tell me to leave. I have learned how to handle rejection with a smile on my face. This has been the hardest lesson for me considering I am someone who only likes to do something if I am the best at it. I have even been putting off writing this article until I felt I had reached some level of success. But what I have learned is IT’S OKAY to fail.
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