Things I've Learned from Mistakes I've Made

The past month has been a whirlwind, rife with both amazing experiences and foot-in-mouth incidents. I’ve compiled below a list of the things I’ve learned from the mistakes I’ve made in the hopes that it’ll save you a few “oh, $*#*” moments as well:

1. Always bring a notepad and a pen. This proves especially important when you plan to attend a lecture or panel, lest the woman sitting next to you in the front row notices your unpreparedness, tears a sheet from her notebook and tosses you an extra pen with contempt.
2. Stand up to shake someone’s hand. Even if you don’t know who they are. Because they might be a senator or the guest speaker at the event (or both). Little is more cringe worthy than sitting and shaking someone’s hand, only to have the rest of the room stand up in a grand procession to do the same.  
3. Email address goes last. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things you only learn the hard way. Write the subject and body of the email, proofread, and proofread again and then enter the recipient’s email address. Otherwise, you might send a potential employer a half-written draft email that slipped into cyberspace while the less-than-functional intern housing wifi was glitching.
4. Never arrive more than 15 minutes early. This token of wisdom comes from Katy herself. The saying goes that early is on-time, and on-time is late, but there are socially accepted parameters to the rule. If you do arrive early, retreat to the bathroom or take a lap around the building—or anything to avoid sitting and blinking at the staff members in an awkward, prolonged stare-off.
5. Don’t posture. To posture means to pretend that you know something when you actually don’t. It is so tempting to avoid the discomfort of vulnerability, but “fake it ‘til you make it” only gets you so far and you’re here to learn, right? So suck it up, be the bigger person, play the intern card if you must, and ask for clarification. Sometimes your coworkers forget that they speak exclusively in three-letter acronyms, so be not ashamed to ask about the differences between RELOs, RPOs, GPOs and FSOs.
6. Make mistakes. Of course not deliberately, but don’t fear making mistakes. As an intern, it’s par for the course, but find solace in remembering that not all mistakes are bad mistakes. Instead of popping your head into your supervisor’s cube every other minute for help, first do the best job you can and then send it to your supervisor for clearance. If nothing else, you’ve demonstrated initiative.

I’ve suffered my fair share of mistakes and awkward slip-ups since arriving to DC, but they have all been an opportunity for growth. So go ahead, laugh at my pain, but laugh at yours as well—because to err is human, and it makes for a great story down the road. 

Monica