It
was 14th Feb, 2005, my first day as an intern. As I walked into the
office for my internship I was aghast to see red heart shaped balloons, red
roses and chocolates on each desk. I
rechecked to confirm if this was the same MNC bank that I had been interviewed
with. I expected Monday morning tensions, energy, stress et al. But, definitely
not Valentine’s Day celebration!
So
that is how my internship began, not too bad actually. I was a fresh graduate
in Economics honours from one of the best universities in India and well, had a
mountain-size chip on my shoulder. My plan was to work exceptionally hard and dazzle
the company with my performance and ultimately land a permanent placement with
the bank. There was just one problem though, the plan seemed a lot easier in my
head than in reality. I had to lose my chip first, which seemed like a
herculean task then.My
immediate team had a very diverse mix of people, comprising a rather older age
group, with mixed backgrounds, culture and different mindsets. These were the
people that I had to work with for six months, and most importantly, learn
from. And of course my “attitude” did not help. My bohemian,
straight-from-college-I-don’t-care attitude rubbed my colleagues in face.
People were quick to judge me, some even took wagers on how long I would last. Honestly
I wondered so too.
Even
though I picked the work within a week’s time, my colleagues did not warm up to
me for over 2 months. I learned to not be ‘miss snooty’ but I still had trouble
finding company for lunch. I was miserable and lonely. And then it happened! My
boss requested me to help in organizing a birthday celebration for a colleague
in office. Having a special qualification (non-certified, of course) in
organizing parties it wasn’t difficult for me to rise up to the occasion. And
just like that, over snacks and colas, I finally managed to break the ice with
my colleagues.
The
rest of my internship was rather smooth. I made great friends and learnt some
valuable lessons in life. Looking back, I think part of the reason why my
colleagues disliked me was because of the fearless courage and hope of the
youth that I carried with me. I reminded them of what it was like to be young
and so free. Had I been more intuitive then, I would have identified the real
problem sooner.
Great
lessons in life are learnt from living them. Those six months of internship
taught me new lessons in humility. I learnt to respect people who had different
opinions. And more importantly, I learnt to differentiate content from flak. In
many ways the first internship is like a rites of passage, coming of age etc.
In a span of six months I lost my rough edges and ahem,’ yuppiness’. I learnt
to be a professional As Steve Jobs said,
‘you cannot join the dots looking forward, you can only join the dots looking
backward’. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today had I not taken back some
hard hitting lessons from my first internship.
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