Internship

When I first started Event Planning I started working as an intern for this company I researched on the internet. I was in college and I was also working full time as an ice cream connoisseur and part time at a bridal boutique. I’ve known since I was sixteen years old that I wanted to work in the event industry, so I was determined to pursue this opportunity. The internship was about an hour from where I live, but this was a dream job for me so I didn’t complain. Plus, I loved it! Monday through Friday I’d work between my full time job, my part time job, and full filling the internship requirements on weekends. Since this event company was pretty well established, we were booked every weekend.

If you know anything about coordinating luxury events, or if you’ve ever attended a wedding, you know that they can run into the later parts of the evening. With cleaning up and commuting I wouldn’t get home until about one or two in the morning. Sometimes later if the event was out of town. I had dedicated my weekends to this internship like clockwork. Fridays for rehearsals and Saturdays for the event. Eventually on Sundays I was asked to clean up our equipment to prepare for the next event. Day of coordination is at least a guaranteed twelve hour work day. On top of the seven hours of prep work for any last minute changes made during rehearsals. Needless to say, I would be so exhausted and could hardly keep my eyes open driving home. I remember opening the roof of my car and blasting music just to keep myself awake. I would pull into my driveway and fall asleep in the car before I could even made it inside. In all honesty, these are some of my best memories. These are some of my best character building moments. They tested my dedication and commitment to my dreams.

After working there for some time and getting to know everyone, one day my boss’s assistant overheard me talking about getting on the road because of the drive. Without hesitating she tells me that I can start staying with her so that I wasn’t on the road so late. I had not told anyone that I was struggling to balance my life at this point. I started to realize that maybe I had bit off more than I could chew. We had all became our own little family, but if you think about it, it seems crazy to let a stranger stay in your home. I mean you might like your coworkers but not enough to have them invade your space! At first I was really hesitant to accept the offer because I didn’t want to over stay my welcome. After she assured me that it was more than fine and that it was for my safety, I accepted. She literally offered me a room in her home to lay my head after events and a hot shower. It’s just who she is. She lives with her hands open and ready to give away what’s she’s given.

To this day she welcomes me into her home (I have a key and everything), she cooks for me, her daughter and I are now best friends that do life together, her grandkids are like my own niece and nephews. We celebrate holidays together, go on vacations, have parties, and visit family together. I am literally one of the family! She’s taught me things about giving and family that my own family has not. This is no small act for me. No words can express my gratitude. I am very well aware of how rare it is to have someone like this in the world to find me. I think about this every single day and I hope to pay her back someday. It’s changed my life forever. I’m so so so eternally grateful for her kindness and now lifelong relationships that this act has created!