As we all began our last week at our internships, my friends were starting to talk about bringing cookies and ice creams and other goodies in to work on their last day. This confused me. We were the ones who had been working at our jobs for free. We were the ones who were leaving. We should be gifted upon, not be the gift-givers.
Thus said I had no plans to bring any gifts to work on my last day. Nor did I expect anything but a heartfelt thanks and goodbye.
Frankie, the web editor who I have been working closely with since we launched our new website a few weeks ago, had been saying for a week how she was going to miss me, and just how were they going to do it all without me? Which was sweet and made me feel very appreciated.
The night before my last day in the office, I was given a bar review - to visit the bar, then write about it to be printed in the magazine. I got a plus one, so I took Lauryn and we headed out to Islington on a Wednesday night. The bar ended up being great - energetic bartenders trying to impress us (I was reviewing them after all!), all of the free drinks we wanted (and the drinks were good!) and an upbeat but community atmosphere. Needless to say they got a good review. And I had a hangover the next morning.
I went down to the fish & chips place around the corner from my office building for lunch. I have been walking by it for weeks, and not once had I stopped in. When the smells of chips wafted through our office window just as the lunch hour started, I took it as a sign, and went down for a small bag - which ended up being huge, and so I shared with my colleagues.
As the workday was coming to end I found myself not wanting it to be over. I had finally felt comfortable and relaxed and knowledgeable in my position. Half an hour before I was due to leave, my supervisor Rebecca and Frankie came in with two cakes and a card the office had all signed for me. They told me what great work I had done and how everyone would miss me. I also got a bag of freebies companies send to the magazine - free nail polish and Christmas ornaments?! Yes please!
It was all very bittersweet. I think I mumbled something like "This is weird .... I'm going to miss you guys!" as I walked out of the doors. And in some melodramatic twist of fate, it rained on my walk to the Tube station (which hadn't happened before).
A quirky summary of the internship in a few quick bullet-points:
- I do not like waking up early in the morning. But I can do it when forced.
- The tube is WAY too crowded at 8:30 in the morning. By 8:40 it is much less crowded.
- I loved the cobblestone street lined with fruit and flower vendors I walked through to get to my office building.
- You can see Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and Parliament from the street in front of my building.
- The elevators in the building were much too small.
- I had at least one cup of (free!) coffee everyday at work.
- I got to write news stories, research upcoming events in London, lay-out magazine pages and write bar reviews.
- My name was printed in the magazine.
- I wasn't subjected to the busy-work/ coffee-runs that interns are notoriously subjected to.
- At the end I felt I was valued and appreciated and "one of the team."
- I ended up loving TNT.
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