Intern Leigh Ann writes:
Being an intern is a constant learning process. The experience is full of failures and successes, praises and critiques, busy days and slow days. I could go on and on, but my point is that as an intern, you never quit gaining valuable experiences.
Once a week for the last month, I attended the Greater Grads InternOKC program. Basically, the experience was one for interns in the Oklahoma City area this summer. As a series of luncheons with speakers from many different business backgrounds, we were placed into possibly one of the best networking environment opportunities we’ll ever be given.
First of all, every meeting we went to, we were randomly seated at different tables. The first time this happened, not everyone was sure of it. Fearful glances were cast around the room at the thought of being seated with a table full of people we’ve never met. However, as time went on, meeting people became easier. We were all relatively the same age, with the same goal for the summer: to gain experience in our field of study.
Secondly, the overall setup was fantastic. Probably the most memorable of all was the Industries and Entrepreneurship luncheon at the Jim Thorpe Museum. We walked in and once again were seated at random tables. This time, however, there was a local entrepreneur at our table acting as the table host. Over the course of the meal, in between speakers, we were able to ask our entrepreneur questions. Having a conversation with them wasn’t awkward, as I think a few initially thought it would be. It was such a relaxed environment and the entrepreneur was more than willing to answer our questions and give us feedback on our experiences.
The other luncheons were based on things like pursuing your passion, local government and the cost of living. All in all, the experience really revealed to me how important networking is. I met many other interns who work for a variety of companies, and I also now have ties to speakers who have ties with companies I might find valuable later on in my career.
So, as I continue to grow and learn throughout the entire interning process, I’d encourage anyone who has an opportunity to take advantage of something like this to do so. Also, continue your intern education by looking up ways to be a better intern, be more efficient, etc. You can always soak up information given to you on a daily basis, but part of the learning process is getting out and learning on your own as well.
