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[Antioch]

Keep talking to your supervisors both at the company and at your school.

Internships are one of those things were a lot of factors are just out of your control.

I have seldom felt as stressed as during my entire internship process, but there are always people at your school that can help you.

Sometimes you just can't solve a situation on your own and asking the right people for help is the only good answer.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Ya. I am currently speaking to the university itself and getting advice from my favorite professors on how to proceed.

The real crux of it though is that I just don't think that my skillset and the business side of the entertainment industry line up very well.

[Antioch]

Ya. I am currently speaking to the university itself and getting advice from my favorite professors on how to proceed.

The real crux of it though is that I just don't think that my skillset and the business side of the entertainment industry line up very well.

If you are towards the end of your study it is almost certainly worth it to finish. Even if you decide to do something completely different you almost certainly won't regret finishing.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

That's the thing. I just got here, the semester is only a couple of weeks in.

It's just so uncertain. I could just leave now with fairly minor financial penalties and just finish the semester back at my university.

OR

I can tough it out and roll the dice on A.) It getting better (B.) Getting kicked out anyways with worse financial penalties and having to go to summer classes C.) Just having life suck for three months.

EDIT: I've basically discussed the issue with my on site advisor who urged me to tough it out, my actual advisor who was basically like ya lets just get you back here now otherwise it'll cost even more money, and I just emailed my program advisor who is notoriously slow at responding to emails about getting a refund on my program and housing fees.

Luckily I'll at least be graduating on time any which way this goes down.

EDIT2: That said, there is a bunch of information I am taking in all at once here, and while I kinda feel like while I am not enjoying it a few weeks isn't enough time to get the lay of the land--BUT, like... to stay longer and maybe hate it would lead to the above problems.

[nenjin]

It’s sound advice. You’re young. Now is the time to be adventurous and gamble a couple months on your future. There’s plenty of time when you’re older to play it safe.

[Antioch]

That's the thing. I just got here, the semester is only a couple of weeks in.

It's just so uncertain. I could just leave now with fairly minor financial penalties and just finish the semester back at my university.

OR

I can tough it out and roll the dice on A.) It getting better (B.) Getting kicked out anyways with worse financial penalties and having to go to summer classes C.) Just having life suck for three months.

EDIT: I've basically discussed the issue with my on site advisor who urged me to tough it out, my actual advisor who was basically like ya lets just get you back here now otherwise it'll cost even more money, and I just emailed my program advisor who is notoriously slow at responding to emails about getting a refund on my program and housing fees.

Luckily I'll at least be graduating on time any which way this goes down.

EDIT2: That said, there is a bunch of information I am taking in all at once here, and while I kinda feel like while I am not enjoying it a few weeks isn't enough time to get the lay of the land--BUT, like... to stay longer and maybe hate it would lead to the above problems.

How far are you into your study as a whole?

Remember that even a shitty completed internship means you can mark it off and move on with the rest of the program.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Everyone I've spoken to has encouraged me to stick it out, so I think I'm going to do just that.

Only several weeks, btw.

[Antioch]

Everyone I've spoken to has encouraged me to stick it out, so I think I'm going to do just that.

Only several weeks, btw.

You have an internship at the start of your program?

[Urist McScoopbeard]

I had an internship back in November. I'm a pretty good interviewee and my resume has tested well with audiences.

[Retropunch]

Stick it out. 100%.

 Unpaid internships are slavery under a different name, and I abhor them. I've worked at two organisations where I've managed to lobby them to completely ban it. However, as annoying as the  'everything can be a learning experience' rubbish is, you can MAKE it work.

I'd do this - ask for a meeting with whoever your boss is. Bring your contract with you. In the meeting say that you're 100% happy to do whatever they need you to do, however you'd like to get involved with projects which look at *point to bits in contract which set out what you'll be working on*, how can you do that?

Most managers just think interns are free general labour, and they'll use them as such unless you stand your ground. Bringing in your contract reminds them that they have certain responsibilities, and If you can do this in a super, super polite way you should be fine.

If they kick you out for showing initiative and wanting to do whats in your contract then you've got all sorts of avenues you can pursue. If they nod their head and say yes alot but nothing happens, keep a log of all the work that you do - literally everything you get asked to do, and then come back 2-3 weeks later and reassess.

Final note: be aware that some employers put new employees through a bit of a hazing ritual of doing boring, annoying grunt work to see if they tough it out and can be trusted. It's bad management, but it does happen. Don't get too ahead of yourself with it.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Thanks for the all the good advice.

I'm still here, things are considerably better at my new internship and I am enjoying myself much more. This particular crisis appears to have been traversed and conquered fairly quickly.

My next crisis is finding a job and figuring out what I want to/can do with my life.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Alright.

Let me appraise you guys of the situation. My internship is good, they're nice to me, etc. but in general, this shit is too fast paced for me. I work slowly. I get really nervous answering phones. I just need space to work and think (and relax) and mentally prepare for the next task. I want out of the entertainment industry, it's just too high-paced and multi-tasking oriented. Especially when most of these jobs are administrative assistant positions where I'm constantly organizing things and scheduling and taking calls--holy shit does that stress me out.

I don't know what to do. I love writing and I still want to write for myself, but I really do not think this line of particular work is for me. I need some help finding out what to do now.

Do I go back to school for a Master's in something else? My parents are keen on me getting my Master's and are willing to pay for it.

Do I try trade school?

Do I just try and get a slow paced, but menial job? Obviously it won't pay well, but I just want to get my feet on the ground. Pay rent. Eat. Sleep. Be able to recharge.

I mean, holy shit the stress is killing me, I can feel the affects physically and I'm starting to go a little crazy too. (I cut my own hair, realized how bad it looked, and shaved it all off at 4am.)

EDIT: As I have gotten older, I've gotten worse and worse at this kind of thing. If I had this job in high school I probably would be pretty good at it, but now it's like I just shut down when things get too stressful and I have to really slog through the work. It's unsustainable.

EDIT2: Also, not getting paid for my work really puts a damper on things.

[nenjin]

I hate to break it to you but....

Work IS stress. It doesn't matter what field you're in. Careers are stressful.

When I started at my company, I had no idea what I was in for. Juggling phone calls, fixing printers, doing installs, dealing with pissed off customers disatisfied with the performance of the software, people walking in to my office at any given moment with something new for me to do that I probably didn't know how to do at the time. Being shipped off to random places in BFE America to meet strangers with attitudes and help them set up their businesses and train them....

Very stressful. And yet I've been at it 6 years.

So.....you're becoming an adult now. Being an adult means learning how to deal with stress, and changing when change is required. It's a growth thing. That's not to say you don't know yourself, what works for you and what doesn't.....but this time of transition from college to adulthood IS difficult. It IS stressful. You need to cross the Rubicon as a person and see who you are on the other side.

So TLDR: stick it out for a while. Adapt. Overcome. Grow. Find strength you didn't believe you had in you.

Because I'll be honest......your job sounds very easy to me. Making phone calls and scheduling? Pfffffttttt. (No offense.) I do that on a daily basis, plus tech support, plus customer contacts, plus travel, plus server deployment, plus training, plus eating shit on a regular basis for the failures of my company.

If you'd asked me 6 years ago if I was capable of doing all this, I would have said fuck no. Now? I have more confidence in my ability to rise to the challenge and git gud.

Only you can know you, and what you want to do. But if you think a different job is going to not be stressful, you've got it wrong. Even being a librarian, within the realm of librarians, can be stressful.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Yo, that was something I needed to hear. Thanks dude.

[Retropunch]

Not to just hammer on what nenjin said, but he's completely right. You'll never get a (normal) job that isn't fast paced,

However, things do get easier.

For a while, I was put into a different job in a different place every 6 months/year or so. Each time it was so much stress and I wondered how I'd cope with all the tasks/remembering everything etc. however after a few months I wondered why it ever bothered me at all. By about the 3-4th time round I realised it was just a completely normal cycle - each job starts really difficult and stressful and you eventually find a rhythm. Everyone gets nervous answering phones when they're new, everyone feels they need more time between tasks. It's just how it is.

As a bit of a silver lining, you do realise after a while what is and isn't important - everything seems important to start with, but then you realise certain tasks aren't as crucial as you thought and you can suggest a few ways to your higher ups that will make things more efficient/easier.

Stick it out, and realise that you'll never find something that is both good and gives you time to work slowly/recharge/think things out. Not getting paid is awful, but the rest of the job sounds pretty great. It's also a time limited thing - if after the time you have left with the internship is over and you still can't deal with that kinda work, then by all means go into basket weaving or whatever, but stick it out till the end!