Kenyon College vs. A Fortune 100 Company
In my drowsy daydreams that float through my head before I fall asleep, my future looks something like Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail. I run a quaint little shop, write when I want, eat what I want, and live in a giant apartment filled with quilts and typewriters. That’s why a big school with huge, industrial classes and a promise to make sure I graduate as early as possible did not appeal to me. I wasn’t doing this so I could get a job. I wanted to wander through college, reading things and petting cats. So you can imagine my surprise at finding myself behind the desk of a corporate powerhouse for the summer.
I’m an Internal Communications Intern, which is fancy-corporate-speak for “I proofread their documents and get paid way too much for it.” Before I go on, I want to preface this with the fact that I am very appreciative of this opportunity. I applied to two internships, was offered both, and had the liberty of picking the one that not only paid well, but also is better for my resume than anything I’ll inevitably end up with right out of college.
In my head, Kenyon and Corporate don’t mix. However, during my time at the company so far, I’ve found some unexpected similarities:
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I have a roommate. Well. Had. As of today I got moved to my own office, but for the first month or so, I shared an office with my boss. It was very similar to how rooming at Kenyon works. We spent most of the time on our computers, offered food to one another, and shielded our eyes when the other got naked. (This is a joke.) (I feel like I have to do this so I won’t get sued.)
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There’s a dining hall I’d rather not go to. In fact, I haven’t even seen it. I’ve been packing my lunch, or on nice days, wandering out into the surrounding city and getting a sandwich.
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I’m having trouble dressing for the weather. Every floor of the building seems to be a whole new climate. If I dress for the overactive air conditioning, I’ll inevitably end up being too toasty. If I wear a dress, I’ll accidentally stumble into Narnia.
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I’m on Pinterest way too much. It started as a quick way to fill lulls in the day, but now I’ve found myself creating lulls so I can scurry over and pin some granola recipes.
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I just want to nap. I never napped until I got to college, but on such a small campus your bed is always so close by. If I was feeling a little droopy during class, I knew I only had maybe a half hour to go before I could get all snoogled up in my covers again. Now, I have nine nap-free hours to fill each day, and I seem to spend a lot of them wondering if anyone would notice if I wrapped myself in a comforter and crawled under my desk.