These 5 AM wakeups are getting better and better by the day (still not great).   Maybe this is due to me going to bed earlier and earlier every night.  And for the first time this week, I didn’t fall asleep during any lectures at orientation.  Unless you want me to lecture about six sigma, ISO standards, and internship etiquette, I will not bore you with what I learned today.  Instead, I will tell you about another point I have been picking up on since I have moved in here.

You have heard me often complain about how I am in the middle of nowhere, about how there is nothing to do, and how my apartment is covered in snowmen (literally triple digits).  But in reality, this isn’t so bad.  I have tried to keep the same attitude I had when I got this internship in order to allow me to appreciate all this more.  Let me help you understand what that means.  Obtaining an internship was my number one goal for the year.  I wanted one more than anything in the world.  I knew what it could do for my career along with how much money I could make.  I wanted to gain experience and do something meaningful.  I whored myself out at career fairs.  Spending hours and hours talking to companies at these fairs was great experience, but I did not feel like I was making any progress.  I got no interviews fall semester and two in the spring.  These two went well, but I did not get an offer from the first and never heard anything from the other.  Months went by and I gave up hope.  I started planning on going back to Winston-Salem to lifeguard.  This upset me, but I was living with it.  Then one day I got the email.  I never got a phone call like I am sure I was supposed to, but I got an email with my internship information.  I was in my forestry class, and I literally began to cry.  All that hard work paid off, and my felt more accomplished than I ever have before in my life.  The last few days have been great, but I noticed I have complained a little bit on my blog.  This made me re-evaluate the way I was looking at this opportunity.  I remembered just how honored I felt when I found out and It has given this new meaning.  Things really aren’t half bad.  I am living in a cool resort with 6 other people who are making up for being in the middle of nowhere.  I will get to work on great projects and learn more than I probably ever would have in a classroom.  

The lesson to take from this is that you should always make the best of every situation, no matter what the circumstances.  This goes back to having a positive attitude.  It truly can make any situation better, and can lead you to even greater opportunities.  I will have the opportunity to be given a full time job after the internship, and I can guarantee you that they will give it to someone with a great attitude that is excited to come to work every day instead of someone who is just trying to get through the summer and make money.  I will leave you with a song lyric by Dave Matthews that I love and can apply to anyone, not just some summer intern living in the middle of the woods like me. 

“Turns out it’s not where, but who you’re with that really matters.”