A Day in the Life of the New Intern
I have now been working at Open Books for three weeks and been enjoying every minute of it! I had the opportunity to work at and attend the AWP Conference at the Hilton Hotel, work two parties/events, volunteer at schools as a Reading Buddy and site leader, and do tons of things around the office. My time spent here is never boring and I don’t have to make coffee for anyone in the mornings. ? Although, I did just get my first tutorial on how to actually USE the coffee maker for myself, since I have been embarrassingly ignorant with that this entire time!
Though my time spent in the office has been great, life outside has not been quite so peachy-keen. As a new Chicagoan, I have had to battle the CTA and my own directionally challenged-ness and learn how to get around town. I spend practically two full days on a bus…lost. It wasn’t just that I was lost, either. I was lost, all by myself, and my phone was dead. I had no idea where I was or how to get where I needed to be or how to get home. I wandered the streets during damp, cold, dark evenings trying to find the el (somewhere, ANYWHERE!) and hopping from one bus to the next, trying to stay calm and not panic over what my parents warned me of the “evils of Chicago nights!” My main problem is that my gut instinct is usually always wrong. One of the first times this happened, I got off a bus that was heading west and stood on the corner thinking out directions in my head. After checking where the sun stood, which way I was facing, (what I thought was west), and holding out my arms like a compass, I thought, “This way is south, FOR SURE.” I just KNEW I was right and hopped on the next bus…going north. And I didn’t realize it until an HOUR AND A HALF later when the bus was at the end of the line. Wow. Pathetic. And then it happened again. And again, and again. I got so used to it that every time it happened I just kept thinking, “Seriously? AGAIN? Don’t you ever learn?”
I earned the reputation (already!) of being the girl with no sense of direction. It started out as one funny anecdote the first time it happened, and then snow-balled into a daily reliving of my directional mistakes as my coworkers asked me how I was doing and if I was able to get around. Now, they want me to text or call them when I get home or to a school for Reading Buddies, just so they know I have arrived safely. I’m grateful that they care, but now I’m working EXTRA hard to NEVER get lost and overcome this challenge of mine. I’ll keep you posted as to whether or not I’m actually succeeding!
I was pretty stoked because it gave me Flannery O’Connor. To check it out, click 