See you again.
About the Author: Alisha, a Philosophy graduate from Indraprastha College, talks about her internship experience at Internshala.
Sipping chai on my last day at Internshala, I’m left reminiscing the roller coaster ride that the last two months have been. I was appointed as the ‘content writing and editorial intern’ for ‘Your Internship Story Contest’ for 2016. Sarvesh (my CEO) had grilled me a lot about how strenuous work was going to be, which did leave a tad bit nervous for my first day. My presumptions were surprisingly refuted, when I was welcomed by Aastha (HR associate/‘bundle of joy’) and an innovative ice-breaking session in the evening. One needs to join Internshala to enjoy such a personal and candid session!
Considering how my mother was an English teacher, I was rather very (over)confident about handling the language and my tasks with ease. Two days into the internship, the feedback emails kicked my confidence off Internshala’s eleventh-floor office! Simple grammar rules like the oxford comma, tenses, and formatting had caught me off-guard. The initial few days also gave me a glimpse of how diverse a start-up can be. As an editor, my job was not confined to just ‘editing’, but to marketing, effective communication, and at times, technical email campaigns too! Coming from an arts background, it seemed like latin to me! Manas (my ‘buddy’) and time slowly healed the situation, and got me settled at work. It is only after this internship, that I have figured out the complexities involved in organizing a national level contest! From spending the initial few days on marketing to editing almost 8 entries a day by the end, it was always a crazy race to meet deadlines!
The journey wasn’t rosy throughout. Even after publishing an entry with utmost dedication, there were times when 48-pointer feedback emails flooded my inbox. It was during one of those moments of weakness that Sarvesh said, “you might feel like you are drowning, but Internshala won’t let you sink.” With the useful feedback and guidance, I strived to improve each day. Today, it’s not like I don’t get the emails anymore, but at least the feedback points have significantly dropped to 4! It does seem like quite an achievement now.
An extremely attractive Internshala feature are the ten ‘cultures’ that are passionately followed by all the employees. The values have given me ample opportunities to review my character. I now want to dream big, be on time, and make things happen! Apart from this, the office surroundings were extremely comfortable (yes, I did feel like cuddling up right there for a nap) but Salim always got chai to wake me up. The wall on my right had a bright blue “do epic shit” painted across it, while the one on the left had a solved puzzle that read, “together we can make it happen!” This was more than sufficient motivation for me to get on my feet and start working! Added bonus was when I looked up to take a break from work or went out for a walk – I always exchanged smiles with anyone that I bumped into! (Internshala is also my official center) :)
I’ll walk out today, not just with an internship certificate – but also some values, feedback, and precious life lessons. Apart from the crash course to the professional world, I was fortunate enough to meet some rather intelligent, talented human beings too! While Manas might just miss my water bottle, I will miss a lot of things about Internshala – the culture sessions, my table, pep-talks, selfie contests, lunch breaks, the view and just – INTERNSHALA! Pratyush and Ferhan with their awesome t-shirts, Ushasi and her voice, Aastha’s clumsy moments, Sahil’s samosa eating pangs, and Manas’s annoying one liners – I will miss everyone.
Starting today, a vacuum will surround me. I will no longer dread checking my inbox (and the catchups with Sarvesh). I don’t want to give up my email id and leave this place. I hope I can manage to get hired at Internshala in the near future. Till then, adios!
PS – Checking my email (or not) for feedback in 3,2,1 …
Editor’s Note – It’s the place you need to work at; check out the available roles at Internshala. :)
