Now that I’m back on campus and my externship has ended, I guess it’s time for some REFLECTIONS!

I think my externship was fairly successful. I had to adjust myself to the situation, be in constant interaction with my extern sponsor, work on my researching + marketing skills, and learn how to operate in an office environment. My extern sponsor was pretty generous and made sure I had food and such. In retrospect, I can see how the whole “staying in her house” thing could have gone terribly wrong. Thankfully, being at her mercy was not akin to being at the mercies of an evil stepmother. However, it is a situation to which I shall pay greater attention next time.

I learned some facts about the publishing industry like: shipping worldwide is a pain, considering the distribution of possible foreign rights partners is important, and there are a lot of little websites to help manage a business.

On the more personal side, I also grew quite a bit. I had to give a constant report of my experience to my externship sponsor–something that at first challenged me. Eventually, I thought about it ahead of time and was able to provide decent answers (“I’m learning efficiency, independence, etc.) I’m certain this will improve my interviewing as I SUCK at interviews. I discussed politics with my extern’s husband and tidied up after dinner so I could be helpful. I learned that Quakers are hyper-passivists, have semi-silent meetings (thus explaining the origins of the game Quaker’s Meeting), and believe all roads lead to heaven/God.

I finally understand a couple of other things about Bryn Mawr just from learning about Quakers (we’re a Quaker school).

I compiled Wikipedia entries (which I had previously avoided doing because it sounded mad boring – but it was OK), wrote a sales email, and researched various things. I learned to multitask and keep composure in a small space.

In short, I learned “when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, and when to walk away.”

[Yeah I know this is video has been posted prevously].

P.S. I’ve made a commitment to post more frequently and cut the size of my posts in half (or maybe just less…) I hope the difference is notable.