What My First Internship Taught Me

Picture By : Quang Nguyen Vinh

A story of Growth, Mistakes, and Unexpected Wins

It was day one of my first internship. I joined just the day after tomorrow after my interview, and getting that mail to join was something wonderful. On time I reached there and Walked into the building. The security asked new join. As I replied “Yes” at the same moment he thumbs up with a smile. A mix of excitement and nerves swirled in my stomach. My preparation? As if you don’t know I was preparing for Govt exams as every Middle-class Indian does. And of course, I failed so I'm here today at the corporate. So unwavering happiness of a new journey and the sadness of leaving my dream both emotions rushing. I had researched the company, reviewed my notes, and even practiced some "office-ready" phrases. Ha-Ha-Ha yes, I tried my best. 

Little did I know, that real-life experiences don't come from textbooks or TED Talks. So here I’m sharing the stuff I didn't know.

Lesson 1: Don’t be Disheartened

You won’t have so many hearts to feel disheartened okay? 

Maybe you’ll feel ignored, avoided, or overwhelmed because someone talked to you. But at the next moment, they didn’t. It’s fine. The first project will be a group assignment, and it may happen that no one will take your name on board. Cool; it happens. You do your best. But planning every little detail and trying to control everything will go wrong; halfway through the week, things changed: the people, the format, and even some data. And I must end the note with this; the initial feelings, the buried-up emotions will not stay long.

Adaptability is more important than perfect preparation. By remaining flexible, You can deliver a result far above our expectations.

Lesson 2: Be Confident

I was under confident because I was thinking everyone knew much more than me. But tell me, how does that matter? Is there a competition who knows more? No right then just be yourself. You’re hired for your capabilities. Be confident. Ask what you don't know and answer what you know. A good mentor will always encourage,

 You are not here to know everything. You are here to learn.

Lesson 3: Rough Feedback

To be honest, I never received rough or not pretty feedback. But I mentioned this point because i have seen my colleagues facing this. Some feedback is hard to swallow, and tough to digest. But instead of feeling discouraged, why don't you just accept your fault? Or your improvement areas chose to see each comment as a chance to get better. Eventually, You’ll start doing better. 

Scratch learnings remain long.

Lesson 4: Small Wins

Not every day will be bright and great neither in real life nor in Corporate. Many were incremental small steps, small happiness, and small achievements. I had those days that almost felt like anything but a quantum leap. But with small wins, such as something new being learned, an independent task completed successfully, or my team lead nodding their head in encouragement, it all kept going and never lost confidence. Or even you would laugh at me for sharing this but one day My CEO just recognized me As a new intern for my written content and I was over the clouds. 

Lesson 5: Nothing is Over You

As I said, I believe nothing is over myself. In real life, in corporate, in relations Every single time you must be the one who needs to be at the point of importance. If someone is treating you poorly please leave the space or tell them to act decent or polite. If you don't like something then you don't have to explain it. For the sake of a job, You don't have to tolerate disrespect. Some people confuse the two “disrespect” and “learning”. Know when you’re learning, when someone is trying to teach you something, and when someone is harming your self-respect.

At any cost self respect is in the top.

You’ll learn so much more than just professional skills. How to talk, and How to manage situations, You’ll get new connections, advice, and Corporate experience. You’ll develop resilience, learn to embrace mistakes and gain confidence in the ability to grow. 

So, to anyone starting their 1st internship, I would tell them to dive.

Good wishes!💕