On Internships

Do you know why they have interns in movies and television shows constantly running for coffee? Because I do. They’re attempting to demonstrate the menial and occasionally demeaning work that interns have to do for little or no pay. But the funny thing is, if they actually accurately depicted what an intern does most days, they would have no viewership.


I WISH my day involved going on coffee runs, sometimes. Want to know what I did today? Hand to heaven, I spent Four. Hours. stamping papers and then moving those papers to the bottom of a stack of papers.

Getting coffee is glamorous compared to what I’ve done as an intern. Which is, in all honesty, literally anything. Licking envelopes, checking information, lugging boxes up and down from the attic, making databases, using databases, crying in a corner intermittently, and other various bizarre and not-at-all glamorous tasks.

This would all be slightly better if a) I didn’t have to get up at 6:40 every morning and b) didn’t have to dress for the off chance that I run into someone important every day. YOU try doing manual labor in dress shoes, tell me how you like it.

And the best part is, I get to do it all again tomorrow.

In all honesty, though, I think I’ve lucked out. I’ve never had a job that I absolutely hated, and the bizarre internships I’ve had are certainly included. Sure, I’m not doing the most exciting work, but I have always loved the people I’ve worked with and, hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

Complainingly yours,

Rachel Leigh