Daily Grind

Well sort of anyway,

My first day as a Fleishman-Hillard intern was today and honestly it wasn't what I expected. The 22 minute walk from my new illustrious digs this morning was filled with a flood of anxiousness that I've rarely experienced in my short life. So much so that my eagerness to not be late on my first day landed me in the lobby of 137 Pyrmont street almost 35 min ahead of schedule, better to be early than late the creed goes. As the elevator rose to level one my expectations...ok let's be honest, I had no damn clue as to what to expect. The only thing I kept saying to myself as the elevator slowly crept up my destination was please don't let me be stuck in a cubicle entrapped in some sterile corporate environment boxed in by taupe covered walls and agency drones who are out to perpetually destroy any creativity that may rear it's hopeful, open-minded head.

Well my dear friends that was sorely not the case. As I pushed open the massive glass swivel doors into a warm, converted loft with virtually no walls to speak of and a massive lime green sign that stated Fleishman-Hillard my worries started to fade. Then I was greeted by a woman named laura who with the not only knew who I was without me saying anything and who had a smile that I was immediately comforted by. After a small introduction to the few people that were there (considering my getting there ridiculously early) I found myself in a meeting with Laura and Meredith Lil who as it turns out is second in charge of this whole shin-dig.

As the meeting went on two realizations happened within me, 1. I was way over dressed (suit and tie) and would learn that the corporate culture here is very laid back, relaxed, open and that teamwork is key which is my kind of place. 2. I was going to be put to work today. Now not that I had any expectations as far as what I was going to be doing but I didn't realize that I was going to start working on client accounts within my first two hours. Let me tell you, for someone who has little to know public relations experience this is a little overwhelming and I was having one of those pull at your collar and grit your teeth moments if I'm honest. But the Meredith told me point blank, "Relax, we know you know nothing and your here to soak it up so don't worry about it." Now this being an internship and all I know that they know that I know...nothing. But actually hearing her say that made me feel a lot better and wanted to get down to it.

The bulk of my day was spent setting up my network account, applying for a TFN, setting up email and actually starting work on a Johnson and Johnson account and if I'm honest, I LOVED it. The sheer number of different things to work on on just one account was both overwhelming and exciting at the same time. I love the fact that no one account is the same nor are the tasks involved. The more and more I started to understand what my tasks were the more and more I liked it and even though this was only the first day I can already tell this is something I want to do for a living.

Before I knew it the day was done already (fastest day of work I've ever had). I know that in the coming months there will be days that are stressful and that will try my patience but as it stands right now this should be one hell of a learning experience that I can't went to dive head first into. And I think that with a supportive environment with all the down-to-earth, easy going, egregiously intelligent people that I work with (All 13 of them) I stand absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.