Our most recent intern, Caitlin, has just finished up with us – so we asked her to put together her thoughts on the internship and where she’s at now. It’ll probably be a familiar feeling to many people at the start of their careers!

I’ve spent the past 3 months as an Intelligent Ink Intern – writing countless blogs, articles and website content and, now suddenly, I’m left with the task of writing my final blog post detailing my internship and my mind is blank. Seriously, there’s nothing in there. Writer’s block decided to come and hit me on my final day. Awesome. Despite this, I’ll push through and follow some helpful advice from my friend Dory, but instead of swimming, I’ll just keep writing, writing, writing.

It’s a strange thought that I’m still coming to grips with; I was once a high school student, then a university student, now I’m an intern, but after today I have no title. Instead I’m left trying to figure out what I want to do.

When I was younger I was constantly asked, “What do you want to be when you’re older?” I would always answer, “A fairy,” and my naive 5-year-old mind thought that it was a viable career option. Anything was possible when you were younger. You could be anything you wanted to be. Why has that changed? Granted, I don’t think being a fairy and flying around all day is too realistic. But that younger self mindset of ‘I can do anything’ is the best one to have when you’re still trying to figure it all out.

Despite having no clue about what I actually want to do career wise, I definitely have a clue about what I don’t want to do, and that’s anything that involves math! And I have an inkling about what I love doing – passions that have ignited over the years and been further developed during my time here at Intelligent Ink.

Over the weeks of being an Intelligent Ink Intern I’ve learnt A LOT! More than I could have ever imagined.

Stepping into this internship was a big dive into the deep end; I was entering into the ‘real world’! However, I’ve learnt that going outside of your comfort zone, and confronting situations that make you nervous, is something that should be embraced! If I said no to everything that I thought I couldn’t do, I wouldn’t have learnt half as much as I did during my internship. Instead, I said “yes” to every opportunity.

No one loves criticism, but instead of shoving it aside and not daring to look at it anymore, I’ve learnt to turn the feedback into pointers for my following articles. In three months you want to learn and absorb as much as possible and that can’t be achieved if you’re not open to helpful, constructive suggestions.
Writing used to be a mundane, chore-like task at university. Sitting down to write an academic essay was a nightmare. I remember when I was younger creating stories and writing for myself was a rush. And far from writing everyday becoming a chore during my internship, it’s the complete opposite; I come into the office eager to write and loving every second of it! You have days where you’re completely unmotivated to write one sentence but the end result of ticking the task off your checklist and seeing your words in print or up on a website drives the desire to finish everything to a high standard.

If you asked me to name what I loved most about my time at Intelligent Ink and what I’ll be taking away from this experience, it’s my love for writing that has been reignited and the vast improvements I have made over the weeks I’ve been here. For this, I am truly grateful for the guidance and support Verity and Christina have given me during my internship.

Right now, there are so many avenues of my life that are undecided. Usually this would scare me, but instead everything is wide open and I’m excited to chase opportunities wherever they may lead.

So, I’m leaving Intelligent Ink with no title, just a recent graduate with some practical experience under her belt and a heart full of curiosity, ready see where the future leads.