Internship Journal, Weeks 8 and 9: October 16, 18, 23, & 25
28 October 2024
Attentive readers of these journals (are there any attentive readers?) might remember that there was a bit of a gaping gap between entries around late September/early October. The lull between the previous and this one, obviously, has been even longer. In the case of the former, there was so much to cover and so much other things demanding my attention that I couldn't write it all down in time, but in this case...there actually hasn't been anything new or quite pressing to journal!
The Prince was out volunteering for a book festival the whole week of the 16th, but I was left a couple tasks: properly labelling and packaging another set of STEM kits that are, maybe, probably, possibly going to be ready for circulation by the time my internship is over, and creating the entire packet for the next nature pack, Aquatic Amigos. Both of these went as smoothly as they could be, and Aquatic Amigo's instructions were mostly put together within Friday the 18th, which is indeed a cause for celebration. The next Friday the 25th, what should have been a short errand of slotting the adult Hot New Picks onto their November lists inflated into going behind everyone and scooping up all 50-or-60-something releases that got reviews a few days after the November carts had been initially ordered in August. Long work, long enough to cast doubts on my fancies of work-life balance once I start working full time, but both the Prince and CDM were happy with results they're receiving.
As of Wednesday the 23rd, things have hit the halfway point in my internship and the semester. By the Prince's estimation in our mid-semester check-in, I am doing pretty dang good for myself in understanding his role and how to evaluate materials and the other moving pieces, which is high praise.1 Nonetheless, there are still some completely new tasks that are scheduled for November, so these things will probably return to their regularly scheduled verboseness shortly.
1 ^If I sound overly modest here or anywhere, the fact that any job that isn't at the very top of an organizational ladder doesn't guarantee insulation from economic precarity is always twisting in the back of my mind—meaning I can never give 100% and the subsequent certainty that I am doing good work.