What I learned: 1st week of my internship

Phew, fall semester is in full force. It has already been crazy balancing classes, an internship, and living in the city. I am in a special program through my university, called the Urban Semester program. I will live and learn in Cleveland, Ohio for the semester. (check it out here).

A requirement of my program is to have an internship in Cleveland. It just worked out perfectly for my junior year as internships are very important, especially as a junior and senior. My housemates and I work with 9 different non-profit organizations in the city. The organization I am working with is Esperanza, Inc. They work with the growing hispanic and latino middle-school and high-school population.

I started two weeks ago as their communications and Public relations intern working directly under the associate director. Being my first internship, it has been a learning curve. My director threw me the first day. It was quite the experience the first week so I thought I would share some things I learned.

It's all in the little details. It's really embarrassing when your supervisor asks you to check a list and when she goes through it you realize you completely missed about half of what you were supposed to do as she fixes your mistakes. Embarrassing. Double-check, triple-check, etc. everything. Making sure the little-details are accounted for make a big difference.

Names. The second day of my internship, I attended an event sponsored by Esperanza. I would try to tell my supervisor things about what guests needed or that someone had a question, but I could never remember the name of the person. I kept saying, "That person...umm..what's her name?" After a couple times of floundering for names, my supervisor stopped me and said, "If there is one thing you learn tonight, know that learning people's names is very important." Learning people's names is a skill. I am glad I learned this the first week so I can continue to practice and hone in on this skill throughout the semester.

Don't try to break your new shoes in. I do not own a pair of flats so I decided to wear my brand-new wedges. They needed broken in so why not break them in at my internship. Wrong...so wrong. The amount of band-aids and antibiotic cream I went through in one week was ridiculous. Please learn from this: no matter how cute the shoes are, break them in in moderation or your feet will be very angry with you.

Be early. For my urban program, I have to use public transportation to and from my internship. Yes, public transportation is not necessarily the most reliable, but that has only taught me the importance of being early.  I thought allotting 10-15 minutes to be early would be enough. Nope! Not when your bus is 10-20 minutes
late. So give yourself plenty of time for unexpected delays.

source

Now that I have these under my belt, I can continue to work on them as they will only help me progress throughout the semester. I know I will run into many other things, but I understand that mistakes happen and they will only help me grow as an aspiring young professional.

What things have you learned from your internship? Any tips on making the most of your internship?

Happy Monday!

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Wildcard Wednesday!

 Welcome to Wildcard Wednesday!

<a href=" http://www.simplyclarke.com/search/label/Wildcard%20Wednesday"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUJrIFP41vZuKQDxo8Iriu2pC8om8nniejMXQ08U6ZB_3HfReMBQhRk1OJkj1i_cD9KLgpVnJmc6z71suD31dIUVl1lK3Jy9D_LZHljx6f4kGc5tf3kokgqENuBY4JcNdyMblmBcp6jk/s1600/wildcardwed.jpg"/></a> 

The name of the game is #wildcard 

Stakes: A special PRIZE will be up for grabs the last week of each month

 Your link ups each week are your entries

Example: If you link up your blog, bloglovin and twitter you will have 3 entries each week

Disclaimer: You MUST be following your hosts in order to win

Winner of the August #wildcard {Won A $20 Giftcard of Choice}:

Rules of the Game: 

1. Follow all your hosts

Simply Clarke: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

Mal Smiles: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

All That Glitters: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

and co-hosts

Bailey Dailies: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

Passionately Curious: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

Busy Sweet Life: Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter

2. Grab our button for your post so that others can join in the fun

3. Link up using your Blog URL, Bloglovin' URL & Twitter

4. Visit at least 3 other blogs

5.  TWEET about Wildcard Wednesday using #wildcard 

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Now make some new friends :) 

Weekly Wishes

Marvin says, "Hi!" We found him at a street sale.

Holy Moly, it is already the second week of September! I cannot even believe how fast this year has flown by. But I am glad it is moving into. Fall is my absolute favorite season. I am ready for some pumpkin carving, eating obnoxious amounts of candy, sweater weather, and pumpkin flavored anything.

With all of the craziness whirling around in life, it is always great to have a little motivation. Seriously, shout out to the people who stopped by last week to drop-off some much needed encouragement on balancing life. It meant a lot! If you are looking for a daily dose of awesome, head on over to Melyssa's blog The Nectar Collective and link-up with Weekly Wishes.

Be Positive + Take a Deep Breathe. After several stressful weeks, I had a hard time being positive and making the most of my first few weeks of my junior year of college. So last week's goals were to be positive and take a deep breathe. Thankfully the three-day weekend helped me chill and focus on the week ahead. I want to continue to keep my head up because it always good to be positive. 

Read for fun. Yes, for fun! I have two books I would really like to read, but kept putting it to the side due to the amount of homework I have. Fingers crossed, I can find even just a small amount of time to read a few chapters this week. Have you read any great books lately?

Journal. I have to write reflections for my classes, but I would like to do some personal reflection. I even bought a very cute journal to start.

Plan a weekend trip. And the most exciting wish this week! My family is visiting me in Cleveland this weekend. They are kind of 'Cleveland-haters' so I am pretty excited to show them how awesome Cleveland is. My parents gave me full reign over this weekend's itinerary.  Can't wait to plan it and see them on Saturday!

Happy Monday! 

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{Guest Post} 5 Cleveland Favorites

Hi readers! Today, I have a special guest, Rachael, from over at Pretty in Pink. She is fabulous and happens to also be my blogging big from the big/little blogging program. She has been helping me with blogging and figuring out all the craziness that goes with it. As we were getting to know each other, we realized we both live in the Cleveland area so today we are sharing with you our 5 favorite things about Cleveland. You can check out mine over at Pretty in Pink! Hope you enjoy it!

***

Hey Passionately Curious readers!  My name is Rachael and I blog over at Pretty in Pink.  I'm a senior in college obsessed with nail polish, Carrie Bradshaw, good smelling soap, E! and the color pink (duh!)

I met Courtney through the Blogging Bigs & Littles Network and she is my little!  We have had a blast getting to know each other and we skype, tweet, email, Facebook... all that!  It's been so fun for us to  help each other grow our blogs!

We both live in Cleveland, so I thought it would be fun to share with you my five favorite things about Cleveland!

1. Melt 

If you live in Cleveland (they're building one near Columbus, too!!) you need to march your booty over to Melt right now.  It's an amazing grilled cheese restaurant but the grilled cheeses are better than a regular grilled cheese and just are way more fabulous than I can put into words.  You need to check it out!

2. Nightlife

There are so many clubs and bars in the Cleveland area, you will never be bored.  There is always something fun to do, whether that be a concert, a new restaurant or bar to check out, or even shopping. I have seen a lot of concerts in Cleveland and it's always fun! 

Some friends and I at the Katy Perry concert!

3. Museums

I am a huge museum junkie and there are so many funny ones here in Cleveland! The Cleveland Zoo, Great Lakes Science Center and Museum of Natural History are all my favorite.  They offer student discounts and if you live in Cuyahoga County, the Cleveland Zoo is free on Mondays! Holla!!!!

4. West Side Market

My dad loves the West Side Market and goes every week!  It's a perfect place to get fresh fruit and veggies, interact with locals, support the Cleveland economy, and go out of your comfort zone a bit.  I have a lot of memories of my dad and I going there when I was younger.

5. Lake Erie

I actually live in a suburb of Cleveland, so the lake is really close to my house.  In the summer my friends and I will often bike up to the "beach" (okay, it's not really a beach, but work with me here), enjoy some ice cream and of course take selfies.

What do you love about your hometown?

Come on over and say hello, and thanks Court for letting me take over!

One Lucky Duck

For the past few weeks, some bloggers and businesses hosted giveaways. I decided to enter a few of them. They are fun and also a great way to connect with other bloggers and businesses as you have to connect to their facebook, blog, twitter, etc. to enter the giveaway. Usually, I never win giveaways and even said something over the summer that I would love to win because the prizes are so good, but I'm not lucky enough. Then, a little over a week ago, I started getting emails...I won not one, not two, but four giveaways! I was so shocked and super excited! Below are the four giveaways I won: 

1. Mantra Hand Stamped Cuff from Pure Impressions

I found this giveaway through Twitter and following the blog, xfallenmoon. 

2. Brass Chevron Earrings from Pure Impressions

By connecting with the blog giveaway to win the bracelet, I followed Pure Impressions on Facebook. She did a spontaneous giveaway one night. I liked and shared her giveaway post and by the end of the night, won a pair of beautiful earrings. 

3. "Midwest, The Land I Love The Best" t-shirt from Flyover Press

I won this by following The Pearl Connection on Twitter and entering the giveaway for fun. When I received it in the mail, it came with a handwritten note (loved it!).

And the craziest one of all....she even put in the email "You won! This is not Spam!" 

4. Blog Design + Ad Space from Call Me Sassafras

Check out her crazy awesome blog designs and her beautiful blog! Stay tuned for a whole new look to this blog soon! (But first, I am making a name change. Once I figure that out, I can move forward with a design.) 

A huge thank you goes out to all of you for these giveaways! I could not be more excited or thankful to have won!

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Sunsets in Seville [Travel Tuesday]

Last Spring, I studied abroad in Seville, Spain. I love Seville and miss it almost everyday. It was the liveliest, most beautiful city I have ever been to. Aside from the Cathedral, the Alcazar, barrio Santa Cruz, one of the most stunning things about the city were the sunsets over the Guadalquivir river. On my way home from central Seville, I would find myself standing in awe on the bridge as the sky consumed me in its delicate clouds and charming colors. I was so humbled by such a magnificent creation.  

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Weekly Wishes

Hello, lovelies! I hope you are having a wonderful labor day weekend. I know, for me, this 3-day weekend could not come soon enough. If the three day weekend isn't enough motivation for you to have an incredible week, link up with Melyssa for Weekly Wishes to inspire and uplift your week.

Blog & Manage Time. I was able to blog once (for weekly wishes, of course); which I guess is better than not at all. I will continue working on time management this week as my schedule becomes a little more concrete. Hopefully, I can at least get two posts written and on the blog this week!

Be positive. The past two weeks have been very stressful. I moved into house with strangers, had an immersion class, papers, readings, group presentation, etc. It was tough on me and clouded my ability to think positively. So here's to looking on the bright side this week!

Take a deep breathe. Yes, I have acquired the nickname Frazzled Fraley. In a stressful situation, I go into panic mode. I never really realized this, but lately I have noticed. This is my weakness. I know this weakness will not serve me well, especially in the Public Relations field. I want to work on it by learning how to take a deep breathe and figure out how I can better handle stressful situations. Any suggestions on dealing with a stressful situation that seems to be pulling you in many directions?

Interested in sharing your week's wishes? Join the Nectar Collective's Weekly Wishes link-up for motivation and encouragement.

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