“Growth and independence have always been an important aspect of my life I wanted to improve. I have been very privileged to have great parents who continue to help me to where I am today. My first taste of independence was receiving keys to the house and my own car. Eventually, my independence led to going to college eleven hours away. To this date though, my biggest challenge has been living in Washington, DC. Having the responsibility of working nine to five, four days a week with the additional responsibility of classes has made me feel like an adult. In the past two months, I have grown more than I have in three years at college. I can only imagine how I will grow over the final few weeks!
My internship has opened my eyes to what “real life” is actually like. I was originally excited when I was getting ready to come to D.C. to intern, but it has shown me how easy I have had it! If I didn’t enjoy what I was doing here in D.C., I could see how people could easily become annoyed with their job. I have always had a general idea of how the workforce operated because I have had many jobs. It was a huge awakening though to see how much more difficult it truly is inside an office than at a restaurant. Seeing firsthand all the education and knowledge my coworkers have gained to get where they are now is astonishing. I thought that the degree I am currently receiving next spring would be sufficient to get a decent job. Now, I see how wrong I was. I have seen that many people do many more years of education just to receive an “okay” job in D.C. Living here has really awakened me to what I need to do in order to get where I want to be.
Coming to D.C. has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. All of the struggles that I have been experiencing have been for my own betterment. The amount of growth and strength I have gained will only continue to progress as my career continues. Blessed is the best way to describe how my life has been, and privileged is how I would describe it in the current state. I am not only scared, but I am excited to how my life will turn after this experience. D.C. has been a great stepping stone, and I will cherish what I have been through here to further my career. ”
— Joseph Paul Hartman, Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc intern and Coastal Carolina student
“Deciding to intern with the Hydrocephalus Association was, I think, the best decision I could have made. I decided to take a chance. I entered an internship centered on a condition I knew very little about, and I was going to working on things that I had never really been exposed to before. Since starting my internship at the end of May, I have learned so much. One of the most important messages I will take away from my experience is that every person with hydrocephalus is different. Like many other conditions, no two people are the same. Many people have never heard of hydrocephalus, and if they have heard of hydrocephalus they tend to think it is only a problem in the developing world. I have learned though that more than 1 million Americans have Hydrocephalus, making it more prevalent than cystic fibrosis, and yet more people have heard of cystic fibrosis (I was one of those people).
Interning with the Hydrocephalus Association was a wonderful experience and I am thankful for it. Not only did I learn about a condition I knew close to nothing about, but I also learned a lot about being a professional. Having never worked in an office before, I was nervous in the beginning, but the work experience that I had taught me the importance of teamwork and though the work is different in this office, the importance of teamwork is stressed, which transcends to other work environments. The best piece of advice I can give to anyone about to start an internship is this: keep an open mind and look at everything as a learning experience. There may be days that are busier than others and there may be days where you do a lot of clerical work, but everything you do is important in some way to the organization you are working with. If you can remember that, then I truly believe you will have a great time with your internship. ”
— Erica Bradley, Hydrocephalus Association intern and Colby-Sawyer College Student
