The Calm Before the Storm - Jillian Milam

After months of doing the relatively same work at my internship, I started to feel a sense of familiarity and comfort with my responsibilities. It was nice - I was feeling fluent with scope of work, I could easily handle any task that came my way, the Requests for Information were slow but steady, deadlines were few and far between, things were good. Do you get the feeling that something bad is about to happen? You felt right.

What appeared to be a normal workweek for the Business Development Writers turned out to be a whirlwind of Requests for Information, Requests for Proposals, and anything else you can imagine. The phrase, “the calm before the storm” took on a whole new meaning for me.

Just as we would get one assignment out the door, three assignments would come knocking. The requests were extremely detailed and time consuming. As a team, we tackled the assignments by dividing and conquering. It just so happened that Cabrini’s Spring Break landed right in the middle of this hurricane of assignments, so I was fortunate enough (or unfortunate enough, however you want to look at it) to be there. I like to think that I played a major role in taming the storm and I am glad that I had the opportunity to be a part of the team when it mattered the most.

So what did I learn from this experience? Other than the fact forty cups of tea and lots of chocolate help get the job done? I learned that, first of all, offering up your precious Spring Break time can be well worth it when it comes to making a lasting impression on potential employers. Secondly, it feels good to get things done within given timelines, even when it seems impossible. Last but not least, I learned to stay on my toes. I learned that when familiarity and comfort sets in at work, we cannot let it affect our motivation and ability to surpass. Enjoy and embrace fluency with work, but never kick back and relax. Just when you least expect it, a surprise might be looming around the corner.