Ending my internship

I am so sad to say, but my internship has come to a close. Twelve weeks FLEW by -- really flew by. I originally expected that my workload would slow down after the intern day (mentioned in my previous post), but one of the projects I was working on kicked into high gear, aiming to reach a milestone by the time I left.

So the last few weeks of my internship were spent on this side project, which actually took place of my main, original project. And it was great -- my supervisor was sure that I had tangible milestones from this project that I could write on my resume. And I did.

And with respect to the people and culture there, I have to say, they were great. It's sorta nice that, when you're leaving the place you worked at, people are sad to see you go (I mean, it's better than then being indifferent or telling you to not let the door hit you on the way out, right?). And it's actually nice if you're sad to go too -- to me, that means that you really enjoyed your stay there, and that it was a worthwhile experience. (And for me, it really was.) My supervisor and the small team we worked with took me out to lunch on one of my last days. We shared some laughs about how ridiculous my cubicle is (if you ever see me, ask me about my cubicle -- on my first day, before I even saw it, my supervisor was so apologetic about it that I knew it had to be bad). And it was just great to hang out with them not in a work setting.

It's funny -- I actually had a handful of lunches with the team (or subsets of other teams), but I got the impression that a lot of people at Blue Shield didn't have the opportunity as much as I did. And that my internship opened up a lot of avenues of information that I was privy to, that even full time employees weren't. Meeting top executives, learning about different areas of Blue Shield, hearing about new upcoming projects -- these were all things that I got a chance to experience, but others at BSC hadn't. So surprisingly, I discovered that being an intern does have its extra privileges.

By the end of my last day, I kept dawdling -- I didn't want to leave! I cleaned out my desk again and again, double-checked all my documents to make sure they were in place for the next round of work, etc. Multiple times! I was ending a great summer experience (meeting wonderful people, doing interesting work, and getting paid to do it!). But I knew that to move on, the internship had to end so I could get back to school and finish up this degree! So life goes on.

So the saddest part of the day was saying goodbye to my supervisor. I think you may have noticed a few references I made in this blog about my supervisor being awesome. But in case you hadn't, she is amazing. No, I didn't tear up -- but that was because I was desperately trying not to! She really cultivated an environment for me where I worked on tangible, meaningful projects, and was invited to meetings and events that interns normally aren't allowed. All the while, she was a great mentor and really knew how to manage people. But we promised to stay in touch, and I have no doubt we will. If you are lucky enough to have a great supervisor for your internship, I honestly feel that the battle is already more than half won.

So there you have it. Internship, done. Contacts and connections made, check! If you have any questions or want more details, feel free to let me know! You will see me walking around the new Gallagher Hall building this fall. Happy internship hunting!