Internship

Back in my undergraduate days, I guess I could say I was lazy. I was smart, and I passed mostly everything, but I was content with that. I never felt the urge to go further and really apply myself. I regret that now, but it was also part of being young, you think it's going to be forever. And now, I'm a little older, and realize that it isn't like that. And so, in order to really rise above, you have to apply yourself. An instance of that is my attitude towards an internship. As an undergrad, it just wasn't something I was interested in. Plus, I didn't believe in serving as someone's free labor. I believe if someone needs you there to work for them, you should be compensated.

But I understand that it's something to put on a resume. And as I sorely need some legal experience, I felt that I had to bite the bullet and explore doing an internship. However, I only found out recently that in a college internship, not only do you typically work for free, but since it's credited (you get 3 credits like if you were taking a class), you pay for it! It really sunk in today when I got a bill for $454 for the internship I'm scheduled to take in the summer.

As I'm already taking a class in the summer, I realized that I really don't have the money to take both. We're talking 900 dollars, and I'm not exactly liquid right now. Until I find something, I'm trying to hold on to every last penny. What's the worst thing, besides having to pay to take the internship, is that I'm doing virtually all the legwork. The college isn't even helping with placing me somewhere. I was in the office of the career counselor a few weeks ago, and she showed me a list of law firms and governmental offices that have employed interns. It was really nice, but she told me that they don't give the information to students, and she only allowed me to look at it for a minute before putting it back in the cabinet. I felt like one of the salesmen in "Glengarry Glen Ross" after being told that the leads "are for closers."

So, at this point I'm leaning towards going to a temp agency and trying to get placed at a firm. It doesn't necessairly have to be as a paralegal, I'll do filing work or whatever. The important thing is getting an in and having something to put down.