Today is my 7th day of interning. By the end of this week I will have already satisfied the required hours my university says I have to spend at my site this summer. To me, if I only come in once or twice a week though, I will not be truly experiencing what it is like to actually work here. Plus... I LOVE IT.
"Fit" has always been crucial to me. I have 100% of the characteristics of an introvert, and I am okay with this the older I become. However, I never want to work in a dead silent, monotonous office environment with a bunch of deadbeats. I like co-workers who pull me out of my shell, challenge me, expose me to their expertise and help propel me forward in my professional career. The International Programs Office (or IPO for short) is exactly that environment for me. The first 2 days I did a ton of smiling and replying with "ok," "sounds great," "awesome," "looking forward to it," "thanks!" But by day 3, when the director had gone off to Norway, and the woman I am working more directly with (let's call her my mentor) was running late I hit the ground running completely on my own.
The office is very light hearted. Every morning the assistant director, aka The Colonel asks me, "living the dream?!" and I reply "absolutely," I mean this wholeheartedly. He has taught me some incredibly valuable Navy slang as well as the ins and outs of the office in a short amount of time, since his cubicle is directly behind mine. Chuck, a wonderful man who graduated from my university has made it his summer goal for me to meet every single person employed at every single office at the Academy. There are 3 other women who work in the office, they mostly keep to themselves, but they are friendly. There is a midshipman on the verge of graduating and being commissioned into the Navy and his help to me has been tremendous. He is working in the office this summer and it has been nice having another young person around.
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