Stay in Your Lane

This internship is unique as I was quickly thrown into the work. This is not the normal internship, there are no coffee runs, there are no copies being made, I am truly in the thick of the work along side my co-workers. However, with this responsibility comes the added struggle of knowing when to be vocal versus when to sit back and learn as the “intern.” This is a task that I have come to struggle with as my internship progresses at Now What.

This is not to say that I am not learning a lot. I have learned how to put together a beautiful proposal, manage the large incoming research methods, as well as create a deck and deliverables that bring together the message I want to display. This is where it gets tricky. In the beginning, I was struggling with knowing when to speak up with my ideas.  I often felt myself disagreeing with key ideas, but instead of saying anything and risking a poor image of the new girl, I kept my mouth shut. As of recently, however, this has changed. I’ve learned that altering ideas actually spark a conversation. Whether or not we decide to run with the disagreement, speaking up allows for a more in-depth look into the topic. Many times when I actually voice my ideas, the topic alters or improves. I’ve learned that a title does not mean your ideas are not worthy. In fact, it could even mean that your fresh perspective is exactly what was needed.