{"id":2541,"date":"2012-07-29T15:24:09","date_gmt":"2012-07-29T09:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internshala.com\/blog\/?p=2541"},"modified":"2016-05-23T17:07:23","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:37:23","slug":"summer-internship-bank-america-priyanka-ramjas-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internshala.com\/blog\/summer-internship-bank-america-priyanka-ramjas-college\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Internship with Bank of America – Priyanka from Ramjas College"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Daily Winner for: –\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>28th July 2012<\/p>\n

Name of the intern: –\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Priyanka<\/p>\n

Institute: –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Ramjas College, University of Delhi<\/p>\n

Organization interned with: –\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Bank of America<\/p>\n

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It was 14th Feb, 2005, my first day as an intern. As I walked into the office for my internship I was aghast to see red heart shaped balloons, red roses and chocolates on each desk. I rechecked to confirm if this was the same MNC bank that I had been interviewed with. I expected Monday morning tensions, energy, stress et al. But, definitely not Valentine’s Day celebrations! So that is how my internship began, not too bad actually. I was a fresh graduate in Economics honours from one of the best universities in India and, well, had a mountain-size chip on my shoulder. My plan was to work exceptionally hard and dazzle the company with my performance and ultimately land a permanent placement with the bank. There was just one problem, though: the plan seemed a lot easier in my head than in reality. I had to lose my chip first, which seemed like a herculean task then. My immediate team had a very diverse mix of people, comprising a rather older age group, with mixed backgrounds, culture and different mindsets. These were the people that I had to work with for six months, and most importantly, learn from. And of course my attitude did not help. My bohemian, straight-from-college-I-don’t-care attitude rubbed my colleagues the wrong way. People were quick to judge me, some even took wagers on how long I would last. Honestly, I wondered so too. Even though I picked the work within a week’s time, my colleagues did not warm up to me for over 2 months.<\/p>\n

I learned to not be Miss Snooty but I still had trouble finding company for lunch. I was miserable and lonely. And then it happened! My boss requested me to help in organizing a birthday celebration for a colleague in office. Having a special qualification (non-certified, of course) in organizing parties it wasn’t difficult for me to rise to the occasion. And just like that, over snacks and colas, I finally managed to break the ice with my colleagues. The rest of my internship was rather smooth. I made great friends and learnt some valuable lessons in life. Looking back, I think part of the reason why my colleagues disliked me was because of the fearless courage and hope of the youth that I carried with me. I reminded them of what it was like to be young and so free. Had I been more intuitive then, I would have identified the real problem sooner. Great lessons in life are learnt from living them. Those six months of internship taught me new lessons in humility. I learnt to respect people who had different opinions. And more importantly, I learnt to differentiate content from flak. In many ways the first internship is like a rite of passage, coming of age etc. In a span of six months I lost my rough edges and ahem, ”\u00a0yuppiness”. I learnt to be a professional.<\/p>\n

As Steve Jobs said,\u00a0“You cannot join the dots looking forward, you can only join the dots looking backward.” I wouldn’t be the person that I am today had I not taken back some hard hitting lessons from my first internship.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Was this interesting? If yes,\u00a0please like the post on Facebook (below) and help\u00a0Priyanka become winner of the week<\/strong>\u00a0and win the prize (Rs. 1,000\/-) that she truly deserves!<\/p>\n

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