So this Friday will mark the halfway point of my internship at Abbott. This summer has been such a whirlwind – filled with meeting new people, meeting up with old friends, getting accustomed to corporate life, and enjoying life here in Chicago. I’m sure the next 6 weeks will fly by as quickly as the last ones have!
I think one of the toughest things about getting used to my internship was the 40 hour week; last summer I had 3 part time jobs while taking 2 summer classes, so working in the same environment for such a large chunk of time took some getting used to. Luckily my coworkers are awesome and eased my transition into corporate life.
The first day, I was assigned a mentor who is also from New Jersey!! It’s been nice having a fellow coworker to get corporate advice from and chat about fun things like movies we’ve seen recently, or how her dance classes have been going. What’s also super nice about working at this Abbott location is the sheer amount of interns! I get lunch with fellow VSA Brenton and other interns in the surrounding buildings, which is always something to look forward to in the midafternoons.
The large network of employees is an excellent resource from which to get career information. Through informational interviews with employees in different departments, I’m gaining a more clear idea of what career paths I could potentially pursue, and others that are not for me.
Another huge reason I love it here is the fun events I do outside of work with the other interns. The weekday evenings find me eating dinner with other interns, followed by exercising at LA Fitness. On the weekends I get more time to explore Chicago.
The first weekend I was here I visited my brother in Hyde Park, a neighborhood of Chicago, and got a mini tour of the University of Chicago. We got dinner together at a restaurant near his campus and caught up.
The next day I did very touristy things with my friend from USC who lives in a suburb. We took the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier and got beautiful views of the Chicago skyline. We also got to see the inside of Holy Name Cathedral, and took pictures with the bullet hole from gang violence back in the 1920’s! Lastly, how could I visit downtown Chicago and not see The Bean in Millennium Park??
Another fun filled weekend brought more adventures. We started off visiting some of the many summer festivals that occur in Chicagoland – Ribfest and then Blues Festival. After we checked those out, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago, which was free admission for us – just one of the many perk of being an Abbott employee! We saw awesome works by Van Gogh, Dali, and Lichentstein.
During the week my friends and I (along with other young full-time coworkers) went to see this local band play at a park called Independence Grove. The band was good, but the park itself was much more intriguing – there was a large lake with people fishing, and with the backdrop of the sunset, it was such a breathtaking sight.
It’s been an amazing time so far, and I can’t wait to update you guys in a few weeks about how my internship wraps up! Catch you later!
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- The Loop – downtown Chicago
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- At Noodles, Etc. with my brother near his school, the University of Chicago
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- Millennium Park (along the right- Jay Pritzker Pavilion, The Bean, and Crown Fountain)
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- Holy Name Cathedral (top left is a bullet hole from gang violence in the 1920s!)
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- Chicago River Walk
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- Navy Pier
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- Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier
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- Lakeshore Drive
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- Ribfest 2012
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- Blues Festival in Grant Park
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- Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park
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- Local concert at Independence Grove, a 5 minute drive from our hotel.
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- Goofing around at a playground in Independence Grove
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- Picture perfect at the lake in Independence Grove
