A Balancing Act

I never realized how much free time I used to have until I took on something new. When I was on co-op Junior year, I felt like my weeks flew by. I was commuting to New York Wednesday through Friday and was working at home on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I felt like I had little free time in my schedule.

Fast forward to this past February. After nearly a year back in classes, I decided I needed more work experience before graduating in June. I applied and got a job as a Merchandising Intern at Destination Maternity. I was excited and anxious about this new venture. Not only was I already working two days a week, but was also in the middle of taking six classes in Winter Term. Now I was going to be adding nine-hour work days on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was a little unsure about how I would manage my new schedule as I began my first week at work in the beginning of February. The first week or two were a bit overwhelming, even though I loved my new intern position. I was learning so much more than I could have expected and really enjoyed working. However, I was worn out by the end of the day and then had to come home and do homework. It took a few weeks for me to get used to working full days again and had to adopt better time management skills.

Now, almost two months in to my internship I feel like I am getting into the swing of things. I am continuing to learn more within my position and am gaining more and more responsibility. I am learning how to enter purchase orders for new styles, communicating with vendors, and attending meetings for the developing collections. Not only that, but I have adapted to the busier schedule and do not feel as overwhelmed anymore. I find it funny that I thought I was busy on co-op when I wasn’t enrolled in any classes. These last few months have showed me that I can take on more work as long as I learn how to manage my time.