Two months ago, most of what I knew about an internship came from episodes of The Office and visions of Anne Hathaway sitting at a desk as Meryl Streep walked by throwing things at her in 'The Devil Wears Prada'. While I have always known that these ideas weren't accurate, it couldn't be more untrue about the way things are for an intern at HLK. in light of this, I've formulated a few of the assumptions I had made about my prospective experience six weeks ago and paired them alongside truths about my time at HLK. If this doesn't give you a good idea, then who knows what you'd do with a creative brief.

What I envisioned....................What I experienced

coffee runs for boss....................................mentor offering me to use Keurig in her office at any time

writing content that will never be read...........getting constant feedback on the blog from mentors

huge, intimidating meetings........................small, interesting meetings with all questions welcomed

designated desk with no optional work areas.......freedom to work on a bean bag or ride the trike

miss my pup all day...............................distract myself with the dogs of the office wandering around

constant monitoring of my work process...............meeting with department leaders to share ideas

eating alone at my desk......eating with other interns on the mezzanine with a skyline view of STL

going to the gym on Monday night..........playing sand volleyball with coworkers on Monday night

being told "that idea sucks"................being told "i like that idea, maybe you could push it further..."

refilling my water bottle midday...........................meeting in the kitchen for a sangria tasting midday

intimidated by the task at hand...............................working with mentors that guided me throughout

While a bad internship might make for a good sitcom or dramatic movie, a place where I've made connections and friends while being challenged and creating awesome ideas that I'm passionate about with the occasional opportunity for sitting outside with a beer during lunch break sounds like a much better life experience.

So, cheers to Launchpad.