Last day of work!

The first day of work is always nervewracking. You're scared about impressing your new boss, making friends with your coworkers, and being competent... and in my case, not seeming like an idiotic American college student. Eight weeks later, I didn't realize how much I would miss working at my internship until I realized I had to go home.

The last day was great. I got extra copies of every issue that ran while I was there so I could save my bylines, I wrote up a few last minute stories, and had a generally relaxing day. Everyone was so sweet, letting me know how much they'd miss me and what I good job I did (which I really appreciated!). Another reporter was switching jobs, and was having a goodbye party that night at a pub, and they invited me out with them. That night, they all gave me a card they signed and a sweet little present. I also got filled in on all the workplace gossip that we couldn't talk about in the office, which was fun but also a little sad since I would never get to be in the office again.

I learned so much this summer, and I didn't even realize it until I stepped back. I learned so much about the UK financial industry, probably more than I know about the American industry now, and I also learned how to cover stories on topics I knew nothing about. I learned the art of the cold call, and how to ask the tough questions that get you yelled at by scary PR people. I learned how to network with business executives, and how to see past corporate BS to find what's actually going on.

The rest of this trip will be about goodbyes... Luckily I'll see my awesome IU friends in like a month, but now I have to say goodbye to the city I've called home the last eight weeks and the city that got me that much closer to growing up.