I’ve been a college grad for 100 days now.
On the first day of my senior year at Augustana, if you would have asked me the most-hated question that every college senior experiences — “So, what are your plans after college?” — I would have ultimately despised you for a moment, but politely smiled and said for approximately the 354th time, “I’m going to take a year and explore various types of holistic healing approaches to physical therapy, and then go on to receive my doctorate degree in PT.” I then would have prepared myself for either a glimpse of approval or disapproval in your reply and responded accordingly.
Well, I’m only 100 days out of college and my plans changed. Shocking.
Upon two days of graduating, I started an internship with an undeniably incredible company after CEO and co-founder, John Meyer, allowed me the freedom to explore an industry considerably foreign to me at the time.
And thank goodness I did.
For the first few weeks, my mornings were filled with excited energy and anticipation for learning moments. Much of my day was consumed by an inner struggle of deciding whether my questions were going to top the charts of dumbest questions interns ask or if they might be questions another intern in my position would also seek an answer to. This was my first eight-to-five, pretend-I’m-an-adult, I-made-my-lunch-off-of-Pinterest, job.
I’m not exactly sure when the emotional transition took place, but at some point in the warm summer months, my high anxiety and nerves took a turn towards a feeling of contentment and gratitude. I credit this pivot to a few reasons and a few people:
- Reason 1: My questions have never been answered with an ounce of superiority, but always welcomed with grace.
- Person 1: Morgan Hauck. Deemed my buddy for the summer. She so patiently took me under her wing and shared every helpful project management tip and trick in the book (that I believe she wrote herself).
- Reason 2: Freedom of speech. No topic is off-limits. We talk about real issues and questions openly and tastefully.
- Person 2: Molly O’Connor. The newest addition to the Lemonly designers, she mainly took the “new person” focus off of me for the time being. Thanks, podmate.
I’ve learned a lot about infographics, processes, timelines, budgets, wireframes, moodboards, feedback, and all things project management. I’ve also had some time to learn from the visionary minds I’m fortunate enough to collaborate with everyday.
“Learning Moments” from a few Lemonheads
“The best kind of day = coffee, bike ride, shower, party.”
-Amy Colgan, Co-Founder/Creative Director
“Don’t only eat half a lemon tart and make others feel guilty about eating a whole one. Eating half a tart is like half-assing life.”
-Ashton Dockendorf, Visual Designer
“An ideal office would have cocktail carts at every pod.”
-Morgan Hauck, Community/Project Manager
“I think the only time I run is when I’m drinking beer.”
-Molly O’Connor, Visual Designer
“Prepare before you have the ‘maternity leave’ conversation with your girlfriend or wife and you’ll avoid a fight.”
-Ryan Budmayr, Director of Business Development
“Conversations never go too far until someone mentions heroin.”
-Brett Hanes, Visual Designer
As you can maybe tell even from the quotes above, my summer at Lemonly has been pretty unforgettable. This company is great, but more importantly, these people are unreal. Designers, developers, animators, project managers, a few co-founders, an office coordinator, and a cardboard cutout of Edward Cullen are equally responsible for loads of laughs, knowledge gained, and a life-changing first job. Three months later and Lemonly didn’t get sick of me, which means I’m an official project manager! Sweet 🙂
Stay tuned to see how this intern to full-time thing goes!
