A New Intern in Ithaca

It finally happened… we graduated. And it seemed like everybody had a plan except me. Some people were off to vet school, med school and grad school. Others were doing City Year or had begun the job hunt. I had just quit mine a month earlier and the farthest I could see into the future was mid-June when I would embark on a journey across Europe. Before I left, I had restarted my VMCAS and ordered some of my GRE scores to be sent. I had some options in the mix, but I wasn’t exactly sure how they would all pan out.

I tried to forget about everything else for the two unforgettable weeks I spent in Europe. There was so little downtime that I actually succeeded.

When I got back home, reality set in again. I needed to find something relevant that I wanted to do. It seemed like I had found the perfect opportunity – there was a pasture-based farm out in Tennessee that was looking for fall interns. I was very excited about the opportunity until I went out for my working interview. I could have done the job, and the experience would have undoubtedly been invaluable, but I really wanted to make this year count for me. The hours were a bit unreasonable, and the area was so secluded that I worried about my mental health without any other interns to keep me grounded. I thought I would go stir crazy before the winter holidays.

I am still working asserting myself and learning how to say no, so I apprehensively turned down the offer that they gave me, and I started the search again. I went on an uninspiring interview in Jersey and decided that I needed to keep looking when it happened – I received an email from a woman I had all but forgotten about. Earlier in the summer, I had emailed Laughing Goat Fiber Farm to inquire about fall and winter internships. They were available, so I found a place to stay and sent my application on its way. She replied back telling me it was the perfect job for me, and I hope to prove her right.

Now I am embarking on this journey to Interlaken, NY, the place I will call home for the next four months. The Finger Lakes region of New York is known for its beauty, and I plan to explore as much of it as possible. Here’s to the hikes, hidden finds, and adventures I’m bound to experience this season. May I find a work-life balance and inner peace in acceptance that not everybody takes the exact same path to get to the same place.

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