May 13, 20011 – It was a slow Friday afternoon and I was in school when I got a call from Amy Moen informing me about the Internship that I had been offered by ServiceMaster for the Summer. I was super excited to learn that and celebrated the news with all my friends and colleagues. All my friends teased me for the fact that I was going to become a “city” girl now. Yes a “city” girl in Memphis. For those of you who think I am kidding, you got to visit the little bitty town of Starkville in Mississippi – the Bulldog Nation!
The next one week went by like a flash in looking for a place to live and getting all the paperwork through and I didn’t realize that it was time to leave - Time to leave friends, time to leave school, time to leave home, time to get some real “Summer Experience”. But, who knew it was also a time to have some real FUN!
What a kick off to the Internship program with the 3-day orientation. It was so wonderful to meet all the other interns in the program and learn about their diverse backgrounds. And, of course there was Amy with her ever smiling and caring persona and Doug with his ultimate wit and humor to welcome us all. There were introductions, presentations and something that can’t go without mention, the luncheons (hospitality ServiceMaster). The next two days were even more exhilarating with the ride-ons with Terminix representatives to the different pest infested locations and the visit to the call center. There were was more learning, more presentations, and more fun!
After the orientation, we all took our own separate paths and moved into our respective worlds. Once again, I was welcomed by another set of happy faces, very helpful and very smart people who were always willing to help and encourage. I was really nervous about the job till then as I had no freaking idea about information security. Now was the chance to climb the learning ladder. I was made so comfortable by my manager and co-workers that I didn’t feel the chills anymore. Slowly and steadily, I started to gain pace and began unfolding the intricacies of the IT world. Big terminology like Vulnerability Scanning, Ethical Hacking, Digital Certificates, all started to make sense. My manager Laury Garrett has been always so encouraging and goes out of his way to help me with everything. It’s been a great learning experience so far. I am trying to manage everything I have – all the resources, time and my work. Yes, I am training to be a good project manager one day.
It’s almost seven weeks into this “awesome” 10-week program and I have seen it all – from project deadlines to Redbirds games, from conference meetings to Peabody roof top parties, from hard core IT projects to spraying spiders and roaches, from moments of fear about the future to words of encouragement from Jennifer (Jennifer Brereton – my mentor).
ServiceMaster has given it all - A truly overwhelming Summer Experience!!
