​OP-ED: I'm Not Unemployed. I'm Just Interning for Myself

When I went through the On-Campus Recruiting process, I looked at all kinds of internships for this summer. I attended information sessions and coffee chats nearly every day. I expanded my network and contacted my connections for help.

Ultimately, I did not walk away with a corporate internship.

But that doesn’t mean I’m unemployed for the summer. I’m my own intern.

The position is unpaid and does not get me academic credit. But I’m gaining invaluable experience in the industry and learning from my amazing boss.

Me schedule is pretty demanding. Most days I wake up. Some days I choose not to go to work, but my boss rarely yells at me for it. The dress code is very casual so I usually wear pajamas. I get my boss a cup of coffee, check her emails, manage her socials, and do her cleaning and laundry. Then I have a long lunch break to eat at home. After that, my generous boss will sometimes (always) give me afternoons off so I can leave the house. 

OCR was not for me, but I still found an amazing internship. At Penn, it’s so easy to fall in the trap of thinking everyone is doing better than you or that you have to follow the same path. You can make your own road. Sometimes, you just have to learn from the best mentor you have: yourself.