Sometimes, no matter how many months of planning or how many agreements we enter with others, plans turn out differently than expected when they finally come to fruition. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it is not. No matter what, we must continuously move forward.

After an initial conversation with the director of the nonprofit at which I am interning this summer, I was counting on my internship to be full-time. To accommodate these plans, I thought I would live in Sacramento in an apartment on my own. The last time I checked in with my soon-to-be overseer, however, I learned that she will only works part-time this summer. Subsequently, she had thought of projects for me to do that were part-time for me as well. After some discussion with both the director and my boss over the phone, they offered to come up with more work for me to do that would enable me to intern full-time, but in the end we decided that my efforts would be most useful if I worked in the office three days per week in addition to some remote work.

This means I will be commuting three days a week rather than renting an apartment in Sacramento. Although I am a little bummed that my experience will not be exactly as I had anticipated, I know my work this summer will still prove to be worthwhile, and I’m sure I will gain the professional experience and knowledge I seek. I have come to expect that things rarely go as planned, but making the most out of the outcome is all anyone can hope to do. I would not have been happy if I did not have enough work to do or if I burdened anyone in the office by making them feel like they needed to provide me with work. As it is, I think I will be able to make a positive difference for this nonprofit while also learning what I hoped to learn.

This change in plans means I will have more free time this summer! But… what am I going to do at this point? I am looking to perhaps go the typical part-time summer job route, poking around at my favorite local bookstores and coffee shops to see if they are hiring. I am racking idealist.org to find recently posted, part-time local internships up my alley. I am asking around to see if any family or friends have any suggestions. All I know is that I want to be doing something; at this point, being idle for half the summer would be the only way I could go wrong!

And so, I will continue to go with the flow and accept that whatever this summer ends up looking like (even though I’m already a week into it), I will find ways to learn, to grow, to connect with others, and perhaps begin to form thoughts regarding what my future holds!