Last week, I handed in my notice for an internship I was doing. In the beginning, I really wanted to stick it out and continue with it but when I discussed with my advisor what was happening she advised me to hand in my notice. Now, it wasn't because I couldn't do the job. I could. It was that I was being given too many jobs within the scope of a Computer Science Graduate - and since I was an intern it's kind of like well obviously she's desperate for an internship type of thing.
As I relayed to my advisor my day to day she pointed out to me that it seemed as though the boss was learning from me. That's not really how an internship is supposed to work - I'm the one supposed to be learning. This internship obviously took up a lot of my time and when my advisor asked me about my personal projects, I told her they took back seat.
I stopped blogging for a week. I stopped making YouTube videos for 2 weeks (sorry youtube fam ya girl is filming). I stopped working on my personal project involving fitness & nutrition. I stopped doing things that made me, me.
I stopped my growth and that's something that I didn't realize until my advisor mentioned I shouldn't stop doing what I love for something that's temporary. I got too invested in this internship that I forgot to invest in myself. I should also note that this internship was unpaid and I have a whole lot of tea as to why unpaid internships shouldn't exist.
Here's what I've done since leaving the Internship:
BOOKS
I read 2 books in less than 48 hours! I haven't read in so long due to having a hectic last year of University and my to be read list kept getting longer and funnily enough I actually had found a list of books to read from 2014! The book If I Stay summary really leaped right out to me so! I finished If I Stay in 1 day and then Where She Went in less than a day (I genuinely checked my library every day online for 6 days to see when Where She Went would finally be there for me to pick up because I was left on a cliffhanger and my mind was making up every scenario possible).
WRITING
You may have realized that I took a mini week break from blogging. I didn't plan to but since I had a lot of work being pushed on to me, my free time for myself got kicked out a window. I was interning at a Startup company (a company that still has to get its feet off the ground) and in this case it wasn't the most organized.
Since leaving, I've written a few blog posts and my inspiration is dancing around in my mind - so! all the tangents in my mind are forming constructive sentences!
RACING
I mentioned in my last post that I had shin splints, and thankfully I've now recovered! But here's the random part. After I recovered, a friend of mine persuaded me to try skateboarding and long story short that's how I got hip flexor pain. (To be fair Shin Splints are WAY worse but hip flexor pain is right up there too.)
Thankfully now, I feel much better but wow when I say July's been rough - for the most part I've been recovering from injuries. I've signed up* for a race in November so! I'm really excited to jump back into my training SMARTLY!
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* = By signed up I mean I have plans to race it - I've learnt from experience not to sign up WAY in advance because you never know what can happen between now and 3 months.
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wow look at that clear skin, who knew not having a stressful non-paid internship would make ya girl smile like this
From this internship I learned a lot, the most important being: Put yourself first. Never sacrifice your growth for something that's temporary.
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I mentioned 'advisor' and as a graduate you might be wondering who's doing the advising if I'm no longer in University. WAY BACK in my Quality History Tea: Code Girls post I included that I was a part of a WAVE program.
The WAVE program was created by #builtbygirls and it pairs females who are interested in tech or in pursuing a tech related field with advisors who are currently in the field you are interested in. They give you the ins and outs, advise you when you're confused on what to do, and encourage you to challenge yourself often!
I can honestly say if I didn't have an advisor in this instance, I would probably still be in the internship that I mentioned above.
To learn more about the WAVE program, my sister and I on our coding blog (we're instagram based!) detailed the run down!
If you'd like to sign up HERE YOU GO
(At the moment it is US based only - sorry to my international fam!)
You honestly won't regret it! Also IT'S FREE!!!
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Have you ever done an internship? How was that experience? LET YA GIRL KNOW.
