This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UPR chapter.
Working as a student intern is the most enriching experience you will have as a student; you learn about and work on what you like and, of course, you master the art of consuming coffee. But the most important part is, without a doubt, the learning experience. Here’s things you will learn as an intern:
- Job descriptions are flexible. No matter where you’re interning, you’ll always end up doing things that you never thought would be part of your job description. Whether it’s going on a coffee run for your superiors or just making photocopies, an intern has specific responsibilities, but they can (and will!) have you doing other stuff, so be prepared for anything.
- Balancing work and college will be like having a newborn baby. As an intern you will learn the hard way that sometimes studying while working isn’t fun at all, especially when you’re working on three hours of sleep because you spent all night studying for a big test the same day you have to work. Believe me when I say the office’s bathroom will become your best friend and you’ll make it through the day one nap at a time—even if you nap in a stall.
- Coffee is the nectar of the gods. You will establish an eternal love/hate realtionship with coffee. You’ve never had it before? Those days are long gone. Prepare to be on a first name basis with your local barista within a month.
- You’ll get a little extra ‘me’ time. After the lack of sleep and excess coffee binges, you’ll find yourself having lunch all by yourself in Subway (because you don’t know anywhere else nearby) while watching Netflix on your phone to make it less miserable.
- It’s real, firsthand experience in your field of study. Researching and filing papers isn’t that bad; while you’re working as an intern, you learn a lot about what you are studying and you get to put everything you learn into practice while managing the pros and cons of your professional field.
- Networking, determination and hard work are the key. You’ll get the chance to meet new and different people, whether they be superiors who can act as mentors or other student interns who you would have never met otherwise. Internships are all about learning to interact with other people and just running with it: you might be confronted with demanding bosses or very competitive fellow interns, so bring your A-game.
- Is ‘social life’ a new company policy? I’m not familiar with the term. Forget about your social life because the moment you clock out of work, you are going to be so tired that you will want to crash on your bed, the floor or any ard surface where you can stretch out (or curl into a ball if it’s a bad day).
- Internships are worth every second. The truth of the matter is that no matter how exhausting or demanding an internship can be, it will be one of the most amazing and fulfilling experiences in your college years and can even go so far as to become a sweet memory.
Remember: if you work hard, you could be lucky enough to get offered a permanent position at the company and become one of those fabulous people who will get to share their stories about when they walked the halls as interns. And even if you don’t get offered a job… at least it’ll look good on your résumé!