Today I learned how important it is to have a comfortable working environment. Without a comfortable work environment it is harder to ask questions, and learn more. I feel this is something that students here at the Washington Semester need to really remember when they are searching for their internship. Honestly when you are going in for an interview at an organization and you feel uncomfortable in the office space then you will want to figure out if it is just nerves or if it is actually the office space.
The reason why I bring this up is because interning at TransAfrica Forum has been fun for me and I feel I own that a lot to the comfortable work environment and people I work with. Everyone is very open to me asking questions and furthering my learning. For instance I am conducting research for my seminar, not my internship, on child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and I was able to go and talk with the head of the Africa department and ask for articles and organizations to contact to get more information without worrying about it.
Also this past weekend was the birthday of two people in my office, one of whom was an intern, and we had a little party in the last hour of the work day of snacks and were able to sit around talking with everyone. The executive director even came in and was talking with everyone even the interns as if they were no different.
I really feel at my internship that I am treated as an equal and not as some low “intern” in the stereotypical way (if that makes sense). A way to avoid a bad environment is asking in your interview what would some of my tasks be as an intern? I really do feel that it comes back to the environment which I am working in that makes me feel this way.
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