Assignment 26A: Celebrating Failure

Aw man, well I am going to be very honest here so hope this entertains those that read it:

I would definitely say the majority of my life things have come somewhat easy to me. I prepare for a few hours, whether it is an exam or presentation, and I could pretty much nail it. So, this past semester I dove headfirst and tried to find an internship that I could do this summer. Of all the internships that I applied for, these are definitely the biggest fails and pretty memorable looking back:

• City Furniture: So I received a phone call after talking to a recruiter to find a date to have a conversation over the phone. We had agreed that it would be on a Tuesday at 11am. Well, I received a phone call from them on Monday, the day prior to what we scheduled. I had not yet prepared by knowing the company's values, work ethic, and how I would tie in my resume to this. When I answered the phone, I explained my confusion, as I thought the interview would be the following day. The woman on the phone was willing to move it, and she said it would only be a five minute conversation on the phone. Assuming this was not the interview, I said that I would just have the conversation now, on Monday. Well, little did I know that WAS the interview, and I most definitely fell on my face. I had no preparation, and it was very obvious in my responses. Embarrassing and silly mistake on my behalf.
• Aldi: Not as embarrassing as a story, but I was able to get to the final rounds of interviews for the Aldi internship. This was by far my favorite company that I had spoken to, and I could see myself being their intern for the summer. I spent hours preparing, meeting with past interns and getting advice on what to expect and how to perform. After such as long process and built up hope, I found out that I was not selected as one of the interns. I was not a happy camper that day, or the following day. 

What I have learned from this experience is to prepare to the very best of my abilities for things that I know I want. I know that if I do the best I can on my end, then the result should not bother me as much because I know that I had nothing left to offer. 

I would only to be able to grow if I failed. If I had nailed everything and received both offers, then there would be nothing that I would be able to fix or make better. Now, with the help of this class, I am more likely to put myself out there and see what happens. Each chance I take is a learning opportunity and I know not to fear it.