My first meeting with Elizha left me scared and anxious. As expected, though, the Zoom started out very light-hearted and Elizha seemed very amicable and gave off a gentle vibe. I even remember thinking to myself, “This is great; she’s still smiling!” But when Elizha asked me why someone as young and as fresh-faced in college as me was applying for a position in ECC, I panicked. My mind started to blur and I’m pretty sure I stuttered my way through my answer. I said something along the lines of being unsure about my future so I wanted to experience the HR world as it was one of my options. Even though my answer is true, it felt like it wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, Elizha was still smiling.
Being the overthinker I am, I thought I blew my chances after the first meeting. Even when I found that I was about to start my internship, I was still not sure if I actually got it. My first weeks in ECC were bumpy — I needed a lot of help from Chris, my friend and the intern whose position I took over.
After a month, I was starting to get into the groove of things. I eventually got used to the systems and practices of ECC and even ended my internship making new ones. And thanks to this, I was able to relearn how to use GSheet functions! Haha!
Besides the hard skills I was able to strengthen like social media management and caption writing, I was able to develop my people skills.
One of the highlights of my internship was the Future of Work Immersion where we had two groups of 20 students join us and work with us to help spread the word about ECC’s research called “The Future of Work.” And here, I acted as their supervisor, something I’ve never been called before. I oversaw the student trainees’ ideas, content, and captions. And most importantly, I learned how to be a leader.
Being the youngest intern in ECC was something I didn’t realize could empower me. Something Elizha told me during our last one on one was that I should be more confident and own what I do. After four months of working with ECC, I don’t think Elizha understands how much she and the team have helped me grow out of my shell.
I’m still on my journey to self-assurance but my time with ECC truly brought out a slightly more dauntless Ali. While I am not able to stay in ECC long enough to contribute to it’s long-term growth, the firm has definitely helped me grow my backbone.
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