Last week marked the midpoint of my Communications internship at Cook Medical... June really had somewhere to go! I wanted to jot down my reflections on the most important lessons learned the past six weeks:
1. "We work in Marketing and Communications, nobody is gonna die!"
This is what my mentor Molly Cunningham told me the very first week of my internship. Work will always be there, she said, so I might as well take good care of myself, make my time off my time off, and come back rested rather than overwork and still cannot get everything done.
2. GEMO (good enough to move on)
Another great piece of advice that Molly gave me - I'm not a perfectionist, but there are things that I'm passionate about and keep revising to improve them. That can end up in a loop that eventually makes me feel uninspired, halts progress, and takes away chances for collaboration. GEMO should not be an excuse to slack off but rather a way to ensure work progress and leave mental spaces for other tasks.
3. Don't take things personally
Laura Holland said this was something that she wishes she knew early on in her career. This mindset keeps me open to learning curves and receiving feedback, but also reminds me that if somebody is extremely aggressive in giving me feedback, it is not necessarily a reflection of my ability.
4. You can learn to be more emotionally intelligent
Knowing which type of personality will match a workplace and adjusting your communication style to work smoothly with different people are skills that can be learned. In the words of Justine Hines, MBA, there will be many hills that I want to die on while working on different projects, but it is important to know which hill is worth dying on, so that I can honor both my personal values and need to be a team player.
Here's to hoping that July will not fly by so quickly, but well, time... I look forward to learning what you are doing over the summer, friends! 💕
P.S. This photo was taken right before I got home and lost power for a day because of the thunderstorm in Bloomington, fun times!