There are definitely aspects of my internship search that are so easy I almost don’t have to think about them. Number one would be my resume. It sums me up beautifully, thanks to help from CP&R of course. It details my education (including the semester I just spent at American University in Washington DC), work history (sadly scant for a junior, in my opinion, but I didn’t start work until college), and activities (perfectly balanced between volunteer work through Girl Scouts and leadership experience in high school band). I don’t have to do anything to it but attach it to a cover letter and send it away.

Cover letters also don’t really give me a problem. I have a “sample” cover letter that explains my basic background – that I’m a junior at Scripps – and confidently states the obligatory “I believe that I would be an asset to your company” and that the internship would provide me with “vital experience”. I have a space open to tailor the letter to the specific internship, where I can briefly describe how I heard about the internship, my related experience, and why I’m the perfect candidate. That takes a little bit of time and thought, but I’ve written so many by now that it’s nearly second nature.

Actually searching for internships is more of a task. I spend hours trawling search engines, company websites, and internship matchers looking for something that might spark an interest. This is not my favorite step, but it’s passive enough that I don’t really mind it. Unfortunately, I often get stuck at this point; I have a whole folder of bookmarks on Firefox of internships I want to look into more, but have yet to do.

This is the part of the search I find myself dreading, stressing about, and avoiding.

Once I have all of my materials assembled, I panic before I can send it all and procrastinate like nothing else. I suppose I feel like I always need a second opinion on all my work; I’m terrified of catching a mistake just too late, making a fool of myself, and losing the internship. I find that much of my stress comes from avoiding the process, though. Usually, after I have sent it out, I get anxious to hear a response, but I’ve found that the best way to handle myself is to call my parents or my sister and tell them that I’ve submitted another application. Hearing how proud they sound just to know that I’m taking steps toward having a productive summer washes away any negativity I might have been holding onto. They help me to remember that these are all necessary stages I must complete in order to have my best and most rewarding summer yet.