Name: Mathew Evans
Year in School: junior
Major: public relations
Position: communications and social media intern, Story County Administration
Doubt. It’s a self-destructive attitude manifested primarily, in my case, by the words of others. Paramount among them all, “I told you so.” I’ve never enjoyed hearing this phrase, but over the course of the last six months it’s echoed in my mind more than ever before.
After beginning the path of a Greenlee student there have been two constants both in the classroom and beyond: internships and career fairs. According to professors and fellow students obtaining an internship was a matter of time rather than ability, a given for anyone willing to put in the effort.
I’ve always been a skeptic of this mindset. Career fairs left me intimidated so I ignored them, all the while applying to many of internships on LinkedIn that were a pipedream at the most.
This process went on for many months all while my time continued to tick. Frankly, I was worried.
The waiting forced me to question every bit of myself. Am I employable? Did I choose the right major? Was my dad right and I should’ve stuck with engineering?
So, when the time finally arrived I decided I would attend the fall Greenlee Jump-Start Internship and Networking Fair with the hope that I would be able to find an opportunity to validate myself.
A position in particular caught my eye, a communication and social media internship with Story County Administration for the spring.
When I got to the Memorial Union, I walked straight to their booth and struck up a conversation with the two representatives. After speaking with them I was very hopeful I would at least get an interview.
Multiple weeks passed, and I still hadn’t heard news on the position. I knew in my head I hadn’t made the cut and had failed to capitalize on my one opportunity.
Fast forward to the spring, I looked through CyHire one day and saw the position was back up and hiring again for the summer.
Externally I was still skeptical, but deep down inside there was a glimmer of hope. In my mind the position was perfect, close to home and with a pay that would allow me to support myself.
A week passed, and again I didn’t receive a call.
Several weeks later I received a call. It was a random number, but it had a Nevada caller ID. My heart began racing as I watched the call go to voicemail. “If it truly was meant to be they would leave a voicemail,” was floating through my mind.
I looked down, and they had left a voicemail. “Hi, Matt, this is Noelle from Story County. We would like to set up an interview with you for the communications and social media internship this summer.”
I jumped from my seat in excitement, and a few weeks later I had my interview.
Two weeks after my interview, I was sitting in my apartment when my phone rang once again with a familiar zip code.
“Hi, Matt, this is Noelle again. After some thought, we would like to offer you the position.”
After the phone call, I sprinted around my apartment like I had just scored a goal in the World Cup.
All of the dark times I went through, with all of the doubt and grinding, was finally over. I had my long-awaited internship.
Though it pained me to say, all of my professors and advisers were right. They told me so, and I am finally able to say I am glad they did.
Vote for this blog post in Round 1 of the 2018 Greenleee Summer Intern Blogging Competition. Voting opens at 12:15 p.m. CST on July 9 and closes at 11:59 p.m. CST on July 16. The author of the post that receives the most votes will receive the $50 Amazon e-gift card.