I’m nearing the end of my internship and it’s been a whirlwind experience. It feels like I’m in one of those game show cash blowing booths where people try to grab as many swirling dollar bills as possible. I’m racing the clock, trying to grab all the marketing life lesson dollar bills while they fly through my fingers. Here are a few of the ones I snatched from thin air:

- It’s not like the movies, and that’s a good thing. People here don’t talk behind your back. Unlike my college campus, the graphic designers don’t walk around like superior beings. But the main reason this office is so great is its atmosphere of positivity. I rarely hear a negative comment and it has actually changed the way I think myself. Positivity feeds positivity. It literally alters the way you see everything.

- It always takes longer to do something than I think it will. Want me to set up a monthly Facebook schedule? No prob, give me 30 minutes. Three hours later…

- Make your own work and stay busy. Before this internship I had only worked retail and food service, in which I had very set duties. But here, I sit at my desk with a computer and no manager looking over my shoulder. The responsibility is on me to get my work done. It was a big change for me and I don’t think I could have done it if I hadn’t already been groomed for it by college projects.

- Working here will accustom you to consuming massive amounts of espresso via Starbucks. Oh, the days when I was stuck in Siloam Springs, AR with the nearest Starbucks a town away. A coffee treat once a month was a golden treasure. That was before I was introduced to the Friday morning Starbucks meetings here. Now that I’m happily adjusted to my Starbucks drink, I’m about to move back to college and break it cold turkey. Not looking forward to that.

Early this summer when I saw the opportunity to intern at Hampton Creative, it stood out to me like a lighthouse and I know so well that God got me this awesome internship. Even though I probably I didn’t catch all the flying dollar bills that I could have, I know that I’ve caught the ones God intended me to get and I’ll be prepared for the next step I take in my career.