This week was pretty eventful, which is unusual. By now, most of the interns have arrived, and the orientations are all over. The intern program has kicked off with a Career Forum on the latter half of Monday, and an intern reception immediately following the forum. The Forum consisted of 4 breakout sessions:
Strategic Approach To Networking
- Gain an understanding on the different types of networking
- Identify techniques to make the first move in establishing a networking relationship
- Tools to use during a networking meeting
Bridging The Gap Between Academia and Industry
- Managing the transition to work
- What’s really important in the first year
- 12 steps to first year success
Growth Planning and Goal Setting
- Identify where you are today and where you are going
- Set goals for yourself around the Abbott core competencies
- Gain tools to start your growth planning process
How To Get The Job You Want
- Important Career Fair, Interview and Resume Tips
- Showcasing your strengths
You could choose 2 out of the 4 to go to, and I choose Networking and Growth Planning/Goal Setting. They were, for the most part, Powerpoint presentations with a few activities to keep your blood flowing. The event was business formal, so everyone was in nice suits. It was a sea of black when I walked in, with a couple of the girls choosing to go all white or all red. We were provided a boxed lunch upon arriving at 11am. I looked for the only other intern that worked in our building, as he was the only one I knew. The majority of the interns stay at one of the two local Marriott residence inns, all expenses paid by the company. But if you lived close enough, you didn’t have the option. I live only 20-30 minutes away depending on traffic, so I stayed home.
So, I grabbed my boxed lunch and luckily found the other intern as I was coming up the stairs. Fortunately there was an empty seat so I took it. I was so glad to see him that I didn’t look around at the other 2 interns with him. Once I gathered my bearings and turned to them, I was very surprised to find one of my high school classmates - one that I knew fairly well - there as well. We had taken AP Biology and AP Psychology together, and both were in many study sessions for the classes. He didn’t remember my name at first, since we haven’t seen each other for 3+ years. But it was pretty much smooth from there. We joked and laughed, and I was pretty relieved to be among a group I knew. They filled me in on the latest with our old high school, which was one of the best when we were there, but went completely down the tube after we left. One of the teachers we knew was caught having sex with one of his students (15 years old), and the new principle was in a scandal that involved him taking the government funded money for the school for phone sex talks and what not. You hear about these things all the time and don’t give a second thought, but when it happens to people you know or near you, it just feels weird. After lunch, we proceeded to an opening speech/presentation by the College Relations people, who continued mentioning countless times that we are the ‘elite’ (how they love that word) top 2% of the applicants (200/10,000 applicants) and how we’re the best of the best. -_- We then broke off to do our sessions. They were pretty useful, almost common sense when you hear it, but it’s nice to be reminded. We were given a huge binder with all of the sessions’ powerpoints in there, so we could gain insight from them even if we didn’t go to all of them. We headed out to the intern reception when the sessions were over. There were a couple of games set up, including miniature golf, basketball, and sack tossing (can’t think of the correct term). There was a lot of food, from burgers to hot dogs to macaroni & cheese, fried corndogs, cheeseballs, fruits, root beer floats, slushies, and various desserts. The managers were all invited as well, so we chatted until 6pm. I had a night class after that at 7-10pm, and I was completely pooped. We took an extensive test, and my hand was incredibly sore from writing after 3 hours. Don’t you love crazy days? 
Trinity; 18; asian; female; taurus; 
