Being a #BUILTBYGIRLS intern sure does have its perks. Not only do we get to have the amazing opportunity to work on the legit Cambio website (don't worry, we won't break it!), but we get to visit companies (just like the #BBG Ventures Interns <3) and meet incredibly powerful people, like the editor-in-chief of both Seventeen andCosmopolitan.
Yeah, we got to meet Joanna Coles.
I sent in my application, including a full-blown cover letter (a full page, no less--would you expect anything different from me?) and resume, at 11:58 on the day before the second deadline.
Yep, I missed the first deadline to apply to what would prove to be one of the most amazing experiences in my life. The #stuylife has finally started taking over me OHMIGOD.
As a rising high school senior, I just can't seem to relax this summer. College is basically LOOMING ahead, like the serial killers in those crime shows (I've been watching a lot ofCriminal Minds - can you tell?). But I know the best way to deal with a serial killer is to be prepared - lock the door, turn on all the lights, have the police on speed dial - so what better way to deal with college than to be prepared?
So with that happy introduction, here are 6 life skills that are an absolute must to know before you become a legitimate "adult" and go off to college - alone *shudders*
Don't get me wrong: AOL is literally the best place to be as a high school intern. They have an endless supply of free drinks and wifi. They let you laugh hysterically about anything and everything in the middle of a legitimate office. They give you nap rooms and ping pong tables and Jenga.
And they give you money for it.
It's so easy to get caught up in, well, anything. You're talking-- er, reading?--to an expert in trying not to do stuff, however detrimental to my well-being that may be.
Whoa, that sounded melodramatic.
What I mean is that I'm a very lazy person, no matter how actively social my Instagram feed makes me seem.
EYYY FOLLOW ME @CODERCAITLIN PLUGSPLUGSPLUGS
AOL is not just your grandpa's email provider anymore.
Famous people actually COME here. To VISIT. And TALK. And possibly take SELFIES *fingers crossed*.
It wasn't something that I thought would happen as part of this job. It's not like I applied to be a Cambio intern just for the possibility of celebrity selfies.
Though that is not a drawback by any means
It just turns out that this internship is less of a professional thing than I ever expected.
I wake up at 7:45, get to work at 9:15, work until 5:00 (but normally stay a little later because why not?), get home by 6:00, eat dinner, watch Netflix, and go to sleep. That, and the fact that I have an official New York ID and a freaking Metrocard for myself, makes me feel like a real adult. Every morning, I put on my business casual clothes, get on the train with a wave of suits, join the line for the elevator with the rest of the AOL employees, and sit at the intern table in a rolly office chair with my Macbook in front of me, ready to tackle the day of meetings, discussions, and coding tickets.
Did I mention that I get to sit in a rolly chair?
It's pretty cool.
First of all, working at AOL is basically the coolest thing ever.
Remember when AIM was still relevant and everyone used an @aol email? Well, my parents had relegated me to the sad world of Yahoo and [super-creepy] Yahoo chat. So I don't really remember that...
But I know it was cool.
Take that coolness, stick it in your freezer, wait about 30 minutes--read some of that book, write a blog post, take a few selfies--and BAM, you have AOL now. That's essentially what it feels like to be an intern at Cambio.
I love apple pie and bald eagles as the next 'Murican, but I'm not necessarily looking to wave around a red, white, and blue flag on the Fourth. I'm more looking forward to those red, white, and blue streaks caused by explosions of lithium, strontium, magnesium, and copper.
I'm gonna be honest: if you were walking past me on the street, it wouldn't seem like my best friend had died. You would see just a normal teenage girl, wearing her skater skirts and Doc Martens, worrying about softball practice and friendships and that upcoming APUSH test.
Everything is possible, except impossibility. Everyone's heard that traditional Hallmark card quote, that coined phrase that's been stitched and printed onto every single available throw pillow or wall hanging that Target can handle. Most people dismiss this as the cliche that it's known to be. I'm not gonna lie--I was one of those people.
