22 May 2013: My first day!

I am grateful that I started familiarizing myself with the Career Counseling Center my sophomore year, or applying for internships while abroad would have been a heck of a lot harder. My résumé was already prepared, I knew how to write a cover letter and navigate Crusader Connections, and I was already familiar with the difficulties that arise in internship application season: disappointment. Last year I must have sent out twenty applications to only receive one interview and no summer internship… the process, you will see if you are about to take part in it, can be difficult at times. You really need to keep your head high the whole time and say to yourself that you will persevere, that ultimately you will run into whatever option for the summer best suits your needs. (Of course, you have to act and send out all of those applications. Don’t worry, the stress does end!)

Now I am glad to say that after being turned down five times this year, I continued to push through the grueling internship-application-process. For anyone who doesn’t believe in the power of all-nighters, here’s a reason to start believing: I was just about to give up on all hope when I received an advertisement for World Farmers Marketing Intern at 3 am, France time.

Today was interesting, a day unlike anything I was expecting. After a brief introduction, my boss and I started at the farm around 9:30 am. We brought some vegetables over that were being grown in the office (see this link http://worldfarmers.org/2013/04/office-tomatoes/ if you want to learn more about them) and distributed them out equally to farmers that were there. (I’m glad I had my dad’s pickup, the truck is already getting some good use…) Then we set up some corn plots on another field— each farmer is getting a plot solely dedicated to corn so they can save space on their land for their specialty vegetables. Though the morning started off a bit cloudy, the sun eventually broke through and once it came in, it didn’t stop shining. It’s possible that I should have put on more sunscreen.

After my lunch break (I was surprised to be given an entire hour to myself where I could leave the office—my boss even encouraged it. I can appreciate taking the time to relax and have a good meal before getting back to work; it’s something I learned during my time in France, where lunch can last as long as two hours on a regular work day!) I returned to the office where we had a quick meeting before heading out to complete a purchase for the farm. Though later meetings will include farmers (there are over 150 at the Flats,) this meeting was small and personal. At the moment, there are only me and my two bosses at the office (another intern will be arriving in June). I can already tell that the ambiance is a comfortable work environment: friendly people who are truly passionate and knowledgeable about their jobs, yet unafraid to crack a joke.

That came in handy when the big white van got stuck in a mud puddle at the end of the day.

Twice.

It was a great first day, but I’m exhausted—here are some photos, then I’m going to bed!

Note to future interns: in order to avoid passing this building three times like I did, look for the World Farmers sign in front of 769 Main Street. Do not be fooled by the real estate name posted on the façade; World Farmers shares its office space with them!

Flats Mentor Farm is a beautiful stretch of land— unfortunately the sky is rather grey in this photo, but I’ll post more nice ones once the weather gets better. In the distance you can see a high tunnel.

I can’t wait to see the plants grow…

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