Week 4: The Office in Real Life
I have never been much of a tv watcher, but the one show that through the years I always watched was The Office. Thursday nights (yes I believe I did watch it before my family had the ability to record our TV shows). Little did I know that all these years watching The Office was preparing me for this summer in the real world. Sitting in my windowless office, I have a much greater appreciate for the show that to this day can bring tears of laughter to my eyes. Why? Because I have found that The Office was on point in so many ways. I have truly enjoyed my internship so far. My department is great, my mentor is fantastic, and even in our little perfect suite world that we have that by appearance would seem far from Michael Scott’s rag tag clan, we do have similarities.
To start, Pam’s exist. Administrative assistants are the bomb in the sense that they are super helpful at all times. They are the glue in the middle that keeps things flowing smoothly. Example, that very important shipment of Keurig cups that keeps us all sane.
The second similarity, birthdays. For those Office enthusiasts, let us remember the always triumphant party planning committee run by the cheerful Angela. Sadly we do not have one those, but birthdays are the highlight of the week/month. It is one of the few reasons for celebration so naturally there are cards and flowers and of course cake. I was told about the cake that we were going to eat for the birthday celebration all week long. And then there it was–I will spare you the scrumptious details because it just wouldn’t be fair, but I’ll just say, it lived up to the hype.
Now to move to a topic that does not bring smiles to people’s face. Meetings. I didn’t understand why Pam and Jim always complained about going to meetings or why many episodes of the Office used meetings for the source of many jokes.
Now I do. I was super excited the first day I got invited to go to meeting, I felt privileged and important and then I got there. And thank goodness I had a notepad. Granted it was interesting, I learn lots of new healthcare vocab every time and again I really enjoy the people I work with. But 2 hours in one spot.
It’s like taking a test, your brain must stay on, everything else must stay still. This is my wanted add for a Dwight to spice things up/ I am in charge of the ice breaker for our next meeting so if anyone has any suggestions please holler…
Meetings can be made easier by a magic thing called coffee. I know understand why they were constantly drinking coffee during the show. Seriously, how many scenes were they in the break room sipping on their cups? It all makes sense now.
And finally I must wrap up since I am on working schedule and go to bed at non college kid hours (or attempt to), as in the show, people in your office have your back. Even if my 10 week stint here, if I work 9 hours a day, 5 days a week that’s 450 hours spent in the same vicinity as these people.
To quantify that is 900 Office episodes. And it shows. Last week, I got my first flat tire and was stuck on the highway with the thought that my family is over 100 miles away. My department not only offered to come get me then, but also later took me and waited with me to get my tire changed. And I’m just a lowly intern.
On a side note, unfortunately, my office does not have any Pam and Jim romance that I can get really excited over, but who knows, it’s only been a couple weeks.
The HCND application is now open! For more information contact Rebecca Rogalski at rrogalsk@nd.edu or Katrina Linden at klinden1@nd.edu
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