The First Post is as Important as a Good First Impression!

Hello.

This summer I'm working at a private college. I wouldn't say it's uber exciting all of the time, no cut throat politics, no rushing here and there. It's not the stock market trading floor afterall. Not that I expected it to be of course. After all I'm just your "run of the mill" intern. I do all the regular intern stuff, copying, filing, giving messages, faxes, files etc. to people within the Department of Student Affairs.

My boss is pretty cool, he was the same person who interviewed me. From the get go I felt pretty welcomed by everyone, and it's a pretty laid back environment. Everyone calls each other by their first names, which kind of threw me off. It's a hard habit to break from school, calling everyone by the appropriate titles. It's just here no matter who you are, boss or not everyone is comfortable around each other, chatting like old friends. I like that. I still call my boss Dean or Dr. though. It's ingrained.

I just don't work with one of the deans, I get to work with alot of different people. Whatever needs to get done I do. Just yesterday (and the day before actually) I was doing some data entry. It was pretty simple stuff, just kind of mechanical work though. Not much need for brain power. I liked the director I was helping though. He took the time to explain things throughly to me, so that I understood the context in which I was working in. Today he told us (me and another intern) about what he does with the data we compiled yesterday. It was pretty interesting stuff. It helps because for the Spring Semester of college I'll be taking statistics and his explanation was understandable. I could follow because we've done some of the things he was talking about in highschool. That explanation with the director then turned into a conversation about colleges, financial aid and all the stuff surrounding that which was ALSO interesting as well as entertaining.

Working here has helped me to see the different jobs that you don't really hear about. I've met so many people here who do so many things besides being professors, counselors or financial aid officers. I never realized how many people it took to run a school. On Friday I attended a workshop for all the people that work in all of the campuses of this school. It was incredible how many there were. I got to speak to so many people that worked in the same building as me and that I'd never met. They were all welcoming and friendly and it was so easy to get to know them.

It's funny but everyone encourages us: the interns, to take breaks. But we just keep going because we know they really need this stuff done and we just really want to get it over with to tell you the truth. This has been different than from any where else I've ever worked. Sometimes it's lonely work because I'll only see the Dean all day and he has work to do. I don't always get to see other interns unless it's a big project they need us to work on. Sometimes is the elevator you get to make small talk with interesting people in the building. That's how I met John the custodian, who's entertaining to say the least. Besides that I've been working full time, five days a week, compared to the 25 hrs a week I worked during SYEP last year. I've also never worked for a private company before.

The commute can sometimes be a headache. Like today for example, because of that crazy storm this morning the train tracks we flooded, which caused tons of delays. I still got to work on time. The Dean is very supportive and enthusiatic. He goes around telling everyone I play the guitar and has told me that I'll have to entertain a bunch of them as part of my job description which I sincerely hope he's joking about. Small audiences make me more nervous than huge faceless crowds (not that I've played too many of those). It's nice to chat with him, he can be very humorous. As part of my routine every morning I walk into the library and read and take notes on the New York Times headlining articles. Then I go and summarize them for him in his office where we discuss some of the things going on. It was at his suggestion that I do this of course but it's to both of our advantages because we are BOTH up to date as to what's going on. Though it's much of the same thing every morning.

Got to get back to work. My lunch is only so long.