Hello all! It’s Sarah again with another intern update.  Our first full week at TOMS is in the books and we actually made it out the other end with some smiles, albeit a few less hours of sleep.  Our first two days of work were a good introduction to the office, but on Monday morning it was time to get down to business.  In spite of the easy-going office atmosphere, I definitely experienced some of the typical first week frustrations.  I couldn’t read my own notes I had taken from my training session, I completely mixed up one (or two) spreadsheets, and spilled coffee on myself before our first department meeting.  It is taking some time to adjust to being the new kid again after being in college for 4 (ok fine… 5) years.  I couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed at times, but my very patient manager  just patted me on the back and told me to try again.

Little by little I have gotten to know my fellow interns during our lunch hour.  Since we don’t live together, it has been tricky trying to find time to really get to know everyone.  We have official “intern lunches” on Tuesdays and Thursdays where we all sit outside at the picnic tables and pick the brain of one of the TOMS managers.  This week it was Sydney from Customer Service and Kellen and Donna from the Creative team.  It was cool hearing what exactly their jobs at TOMS entail, as well as the obligatory embarrassing stories from when they first started at TOMS.  It definitely makes you breathe a little easier to realize that everyone goes through this “new kid” phase.  The rest of the days we all took lunch break together so that we could chat and catch up, choosing to sit outdoors and enjoy the (finally) sunny California weather!

Friday was “Fun Friday,” a monthly tradition at TOMS.  On the last Friday of every month, we have a few hours of FUN as an office.  This month all of us headed down the street,  switched out our TOMS for some pretty goofy looking bowling shoes, and spent a couple hours cheering each other on at the bowling alley.   One of the interns, Heather, is pretty much a bowling prodigy and blew everyone away with her mad skills.  Fun Friday did not disappoint and we all left feeling super optimistic about the next five months.  After bowling, several of the interns went to dinner at a really cool restaurant in Venice.  It was nice to FINALLY hang out and relax together outside of work.  L.A. is so huge that although we may work at the same place, some of us live up to an hour away from each other!! While we had a few embarrassing moments last week, Friday definitely served as an opportunity to laugh them off and bond over this insane experience.

On the right, David the Friends of TOMS intern bowls a strike. Notice on the left our graceful intern coordinator Caroline as she exhibits her impeccable bowling form.

Interns Heather, Grace, Carly, Dianna, and me at Nikki’s in Venice!

On Sunday, our intern coordinator Caroline took a few of us to Runyon Canyon so that we could experience L.A. from a different point of view.  After a pretty intense (for me, anyway) hike up the side of the mountain, we were treated to breathtaking views of this place we now call home.  It was incredible how much you could see up there.  All that went through my mind was…Wow. I am so lucky to be here.

And as I sit here at my desk, staring at the wall made of shoe boxes, I can’t help but feel absolutely giddy that this is only just the beginning.

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Tags:   first day · fun friday · hike · intern · New
Categories: Intern Adventures4 Comments