This internship is definitely not what I expected it to be. I came home one day and my mom told me she got me a summer job based on agriculture. I was super nervous about this new job I was getting, but once we started doing the zoom calls and the in-person meetings I started to get excited. During the final parts of the interview process, I filled out a paper that had me rank what I wanted to do out of ten choices.
In my first week of the internship, I was at a local boutique called The Byrds Nest. It is owned by Leigh Byrd, and her two daughters work the register and help inventory clothes. M’kenzie Byrd is Leigh’s daughter in law and she does all the background work. She makes sure everything is updated on social media and their websites. That week I mostly ran the register and helped inventory new clothes that came in. On Monday I helped the girls paint the back of the building to get it ready for that week’s incoming clothes.
In my second week of the internship, I worked at the County Clerks office with CJ Chasco. I learned how to do many things that I didn’t know county clerks did. She taught me how to file receipts and put them on the computer. I was able to digitize half of the first book of marriage licenses from Swisher County.
In my third week, I was at the local daycare and I did Meals on Wheels. That is a program where we take two vans and two routes and deliver meals to people who can’t go out and buy them. I loved this week because Meals on Wheels was so rewarding in the sense that every time I dropped off a meal that person was so beyond grateful it just radiated. I loved being at the daycare because I truly built a strong connection with some of those kids, and by Friday I cried because I didn’t want to leave them.
This internship thus far has helped me in so many ways that I can’t even put into words. Before I was never able to carry on a conversation with an adult because I got awkward and would embarrass myself, but I’m slowly getting better about just focusing on the conversation and not letting my awkwardness take over. Even in this small town, I have started to get to know people that I forgot lived here. I feel like I could call on anyone I’ve worked for so far and could ask them for advice without feeling like an inconvenience. I also feel like I can now take initiative and lead better. This internship has blown my comfort zone out of the water, and it’s only the 3rd week.
