Hello!

A lot has happened since graduation, which was only a mere 3 weeks ago—insane!

Three weeks ago, I got a brand new car (thanks family for what Annie calls the ‘ultimate grad gift!’) and I had two internships. Three weeks later, I still have the car (with a tiny dent on the driver’s side door and a paint chip from some annoying person who banged their door on my front passenger’s side door—FU!!) and only one internship.

This week, I quit my job as a production intern at this company in Glendale. Why? Because I really didn’t enjoy working there (for a variety of reasons—aka they didn’t use my brain power to their full advantage, forgot I existed in the intern room, were too busy for me, etc), and, due to a huge (unexpected) blowup this week, I took that as my cue to exit.

Exiting wasn’t easy seeing that the company I left is very notable, and I probably burned a non-existing bridge and will never know if things would have gotten better if I actually stayed. I also got a good talk from the west coast recruiter of the company and my HR person about how I should reconsider leaving since, in the real world, I can’t quit a job after 3 weeks. They practically told me that I was making me a huge mistake. Makes sense after only three weeks. Fair enough.

Little did they know, quitting was the best thing ever. The next day, I went to my other internship and spoke to my boss about quitting my first internship and possibly working more hours with him. He’s quite literally the best and read my mind. He basically told me that I should never work for a company that makes working an unenjoyable experience. As for quitting after 3 weeks? He said it never happens in the real world because you’re more careful/smart about taking jobs. I think he was trying to tell me that it was only a god damn internship and that I’ll live despite quitting so early on in the game.

The most important lesson I’ve learned is to the keep promises that I’ve made with myself. I always told myself that no matter how slim the job market is after graduation and when I’m actually going to be done with classes in December, I would never take a job that just serves to make ends meet until I find a job in my career field. I’m too scared that if I do that, I’ll be one of those people that get sucked into that kind of job for years never pursuing my dreams. Sure, there lots of college grads who get sucked into the cycle and get out, but I don’t want to be the bitter college graduate that hates her job at my 10 year college reunion. 

I also made another promise to myself: Never stay at a job that I absolutely loathe. Even driving to my first internship was like placing my head on the guillotine and waiting to get it chopped off. It wasn’t healthy for my livelihood. 

I may sound overly dramatic, but this was definitely a good learning lesson for me. Sometimes, you really have to know when to quit, and I can already tell that deciding to work as a full-time intern for my second internship is going to really pay off.

(Plus, did I mention I get fed lunch everyday (starting July 12th) and there’s a cereal and peanut butter and jelly bar at work?)