Adventure 4: Welcome to Reality and Back Pack Straps

Insert enormous freak out moment here. I guess I survived the first day of my internship at the Humanities Council. I must admit though, I had a rough morning, mainly due to my poor sense of direction and again inexperience with DC weather. Last night, I stayed up a little late trying to iron all of my office clothes for the rest of the week, anticipating I would be too tired to do it every morning thereafter. My alarm went off at 7:45am, but I was tossing and turning in bed for a little while before that. I was so anxious, I couldn’t stay asleep.

Once I got up, I started my morning routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face. Afterwards, I wandered into the kitchen/living room area, where I saw my apartment-mate ironing her clothes while watching the morning news. It felt very surreal, as I half-listened to the newscasters, trying to figure out my first plan of action. (It takes me a long time to fully wake up in the morning, so my cognitive and comprehension skills are usually very low). I decided to make breakfast and chat with her about being nervous on our first day. She casually told me, “I’ve been up since 3am. I spent a few hours at the computer lab, then came back here around 6 to get ready.” Oh my gosh, 3am? And I thought 7:45 was early.

Luckily, I had already picked out my “first-day-of-work” outfit the night before, which oddly enough resembled my old Justicecorps uniform (something I had to wear two or three times a week this past year). I’m really sick of that particular shade of blue, but I thought it looked the most professional.

Once I was dressed, I started packing my lunch—a sandwich and a banana. I glanced at the clock and realized it was already 8:30. I wanted to leave by 8:45, which would give me an extra half hour in case I would get lost on the way to work. I later discovered that 8:45 wasn’t early enough. I grabbed my lunch, my water bottle, and office shoes and I was just about out the door when Agent 024, who was ironing as I was rushing to leave, quickly stopped me for a “first-day-of-work” photo.

(Sneakers + Backpack) - Extra Shirt = Back pack strap sweat marks but okay feet

Unfortunately, as soon as I left the center, a wave of heat and humidity washed all over me. I was hoping that mornings would still be relatively cool, but I guess I was wrong. It didn’t help that it would hit 97 degrees by the afternoon. Sweat was already beading down my face as I began walking and I had only been outside for five minutes. I couldn’t remember how to get to work, so I wandered around the traffic circle by the UC Center a few times before I resorted to pulling out my phone and using Google Maps. I wouldn’t recommend using the “walking directions” feature on Google Maps because all I can remember was trying to follow a blue path, though my blue dot location was way off track. The more I wandered, the more I was melting in my office attire and I could feel the sweat accumulating on my shirt—it was gross.

I made it to the office about ten minutes late and my shirt was obviously stained with sweat where my backpack straps had been. My hair was probably really limp and clung to my forehead. Talk about looking professional and being punctual on the first day. Despite my embarrassment, my supervisor was really friendly and she kept checking to see if the AC was running properly (for my sake, I guess). When I arrived at the Council, I noticed another intern already seated at the meeting room table. As it so happens, she is also a UCDC student (hailing from Irvine). We work in separate areas, but we managed to talk to each other during our lunch break and we agreed to walk together to and from work every day so that we wouldn’t get lost.

Cover of my "Welcome to the Job" folder

Some program brochures and packets

In addition to my own desk space, I have a computer to work with, phone extension, and work e-mail address. I had my account set up so that I could have access to a shared drive on the network. As for my tasks for the day, I have to admit that it was a little anti-climactic. I sent out 1 e-mail then conducted research for most of the day, which honestly made it difficult for me to focus. Not to mention, I have to get used to working on a computer that runs Windows. It’s been awhile since I’ve regularly used a PC, so hopefully I can relearn things quickly.

This was included in my folder. The Humanities Council recently finished a city-wide program called "Live To Read." They had extra copies, so lucky me! :]

Until next time: The world could use more Atticus Finch-es.

<3 Upshire Girl (Jess)