just a little stroll

the allnighters never end…lol. looking forward to the passing of this deadline!

i have had the misfortune of “jumping the gun” this semester in choosing internships. i didn’t believe that anyone would hire me, so i applied anywhere i could and went with whoever got to me first. biiiiig mistake. this post is to warn people to not do what i did!

(i won’t name them in text because they can probably google themselves and see this post, but their name will be in the pics.)

i viewed an internship as a way to get my foot in the door. i wanted experience and something on my resume.

so when i received this in my inbox:

i was pretty happy to be “chosen” to intern. even though it was unpaid, it looked legit and not like free labor. they had offerings at the end of the road and requirements to fulfill the internship. it looked pretty darn legit to my naive self. i preferred it to be paid (of course), but unpaid was fine if i learned a lot from it.

I LEARNED NOTHING.

these are the kind of graphics the company prefers. when i saw how much help they needed, i thought i could play a role in turning their look around. i worked hard to help them create a new look and feel, gave some new logo suggestions, created a packaging look, meticulously worked on dimensions and sizes to cram everything into the cheapest shipping option, and contributed marketing ideas.

NOTHING got implemented. in the meantime, i wasted hours of my time on conference calls, team calls, marketing calls, etc. my suggestions were all ignored and the company kept barreling forward with their awful graphics.

this customer “testimonial” is from one of the founders of the company. even the product itself…

the company liked its own post on its own facebook page. it was the only like on that post.

in no way am i trying to bash the company’s stance on its product—it’s a pretty cool concept and that is initially what drew me in. i also give leeway—it is a startup and i understand that there aren’t a whole lot of options for payment.

BUT IT HELD INTERNSHIPS ILLEGALLY.

for an unpaid internship to be legal in the united states, it must benefit the intern as much as it would the company. not just in terms of experience, but the company must be actively helping to educate the intern. the company MAY NOT benefit solely from the internship as a means of free labor. at the rate they are going, this company will not last long.

anything the other interns and i did was give, give, give. i completed my minimum 2 months and received not a word from the company, except for one lone e-mail a few weeks later asking me to contribute to a new project. even in the end, it was take take take from the company. and as for the “benefits” at the end of the ordeal? no word.

if anything, this “internship” was a great learning experience and i thank this company for giving me that opportunity. i learned to trust my instincts, believe in myself more, how to distinguish a good internship from a bad one, and value my work more.

it is always depressing to calculate total expenses spent on design things at the end of the semester…lol

menlo park votes: diane kevin frank

sjsu: parents…lol

in bed, wrapped in my snuggie, happy as a clam :D

tangerine-and-mochi:

Are not the people you hangout with 24/7. They’re the ones who you can tell anything too and you know you can trust them. They are the ones who don’t judge you, they like you for you. You can be yourself around them and they can be there self around you. That’s what a best friend really is. No matter how far away they are, or if they go to a different school they can still be your best friend.

Jessica ♥

<3!

(Source: brookeelisee)

i don’t understand their mentalities, manners, and how they interact socially :( it’s always so awkward and i feel like they’re so rude even though i try so hard to be nice. maybe it is just a different culture thing, and this just proves how whitewashed i am. lol