You Won’t Know Until You Go

       If you aren’t sure what you’re looking for when you start your internship search (like me), the whole process can be a little overwhelming.  I took full advantage of MBA Career Services to help me make the right decision, going so far as to call them on Super Bowl Sunday via cell phone for some quick tips.  I ended up landing a selective fellowship called Climate Corps, created through a partnership between Net Impact and the Environmental Defense Fund.  Fellows are matched with companies to discover and evaluate potential energy savings while reducing environmental impact.  With an architecture background and a passion for sustainability, this seemed like a great fit.  However, upon receiving the offer, I still didn’t know what company I was going to be matched with or where I would be placed.  Having made such good friends in the program, I was reluctant to consider the possibility of leaving Seattle for the summer.  In the weeks that followed, I agonized over the decision to accept the offer.  Career Services helped me understand that summers go by in a flash and finding a good internship – wherever it may be – was critical.  When I found out that I had been matched with Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, I knew it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. 

       With my summer sublet in place, I was free to fret over the internship.  Would P&G decide in the first week that I’m not good enough?  Would they think they’d made a mistake?  What will it be like to live in a foreign city all by myself for the summer?  Would I make friends?

Julia Li at the Pringles Factory in Jackson, TN

Julia Li at the Pringles Factory in Jackson, TN

       Fast forward now to the third week of my internship and I can say that I’ve made one of the best decisions of my life.  I am loving my internship and am gaining experience of a caliber I would not have dreamed of.  I literally walked in the first day and hit the ground running.  The amount of resources available at P&G is staggering.  I’m working on energy reductions at the Pringles plant in Jackson, Tennessee, and got to fly to Jackson in the second week of my internship and see the production lines first hand.  I met with sustainability experts, facilities managers, engineers in packaging, and the list goes on.  I am scheduled for two more trips in my short ten week internship.  Moreover, I have made great friends to spend my summer with. 

       The moral of this story is you won’t know until you go.  Life is about new experiences and most of them will be scary, but everything usually works out better than you expected.  I can now be proud of this independent step in my life and have a fantastic addition to my resume, which I can speak to in terms of finance, marketing, and sustainability.

       Stay tuned for an update at the end of the summer …

Guest Blogger, Julia Li, MBA Class of 2011