The Internship

I hate orientations. They make me fidget. I have veeerry limited patience for welcomes and opening seminars and icebreakers...God, icebreakers really are the worst. Haven’t been to one yet that wasn’t awkward… Anyway, I like to think of myself as more of a jump in, learn as you go kinda guy, which has made me a good fit for my internship.

This summer I will be working at mCapitol Management, a lobbying firm in downtown D.C. The first day, we spent a couple of hours getting a tour of the office, getting to know everyone, and learning our responsibilities. And then we were off. I’ll do my best to post all of my successes and failures on this blog. (Let’s hope for more of the former.)

So, how am I doing so far? It’s hard to say. Let me sidetrack a bit. First of all, my fellow interns are some of the coolest people you’ll meet. When not diligently working (obviously), we have a pretty good time in the office that four of us share together, affectionately called “the pod” (although I am campaigning to change it to “the bullpen”). We tell embarrassing stories, argue about who the hottest first lady was, and give each other odd nicknames. (shoutout to “Legs” and “Jingles”) We’ve even got a pretty schweet quote board goin’ on. Oh…and we like to label things…a lot.

Most importantly though, I think we keep each other from freaking out. Our jobs aren’t necessarily difficult, but as an intern, there is always pressure. Pressure to succeed, and to impress, and to not eff up. This is the time when we are supposed to prove that we are at least semi-competent in the field we have chosen, and that we could cut it in “the real world.”

With that on your shoulders, a mild mental breakdown or two is expected, but having four other people going through the same thing makes life much less stressful. And my fellow interns and I have collectively come to understand the appeal of a low stress job like, say, a janitor at an Arby’s. Sigh…that’s my dream.

So, as an attempt to answer the question “how am I doing?” I would say that I’m doing alright. I haven’t had any major screw-ups, I’m getting along well with everyone, and most importantly, I’m learning a ton. Seriously. After a couple of weeks of researching and keeping track of news (part of my responsibilities), I could probably talk at length about Medicare or cap-and-trade without having to resort to Wikipedia. Go me!

So yeah, here’s to continued success. Oh, and, unlike my last post, here is a picture of me with a living, breathing Tucker Carlson. Woohoo!

Until next time!