Overworked and Unpaid

When people ask me how my summer was it usually sums it up when I mutter the words, unpaid. But in all honesty, I'd be lying if I told you I was at all unhappy.

I worked two internships, one with GCSC (The Greater Columbus Sports Commission) and the other with The Advancement Department at Ohio State. As an intern at both I helped mainly with the planning and execution of events. At GCSC, I was able to be apart of the biggest event Columbus has ever seen; USA Junior Girls National Championships. The event brought in 30,000 visitors and more than 30 million in visitor spending. I was able to meet girls from all over the country and help change their perception on Columbus by showing them what the city really has to offer. It was truly something amazing to be apart of. And over at the Advancement Dept, I was/ am assisting in Ohio State's HUGE campaign kickoff to happen this October. I'm working on a bunch of smaller odd jobs right now but hey, event planner isn't always the over-the-top events. Both very different types of events and experiences but both very unforgettable!

More importantly to me, I met so many people and I spent time with people who were happy and loved what they were doing. When I tell people how I want to go into the events industry they never skip a beat to tell me how I'll be working such LONG hours and LOW pay. (Sadly people care about that over what will make me happy). But anyways, seeing the event planners that I worked with happy and loving what they do completely reconfirmed my decision to go into hospitality and pursue a career in event planning post college.

By the end of the summer my friends working at places such as JP Morgan Chase, P&G, and Ernst and Young all were receiving offers for jobs after graduation. Not me. I guess that's what comes when working at smaller companies but hey, I am not going to stress and am going to enjoy the ride to see where I'll end up in just 9 short months. Okay, I'm completely lying, I'm stressing out, but writing that kind of made me feel better about it so I'll keep telling myself that.

And that was the last summer I will ever have as a student. Well worth it.