And So Begins My Summer Of Coolness

Today marks the beginning of my journey into adulthood. Although I still have a measly one year of school left, I got my first taste of what a real job is all about. It was a thrilling experience marked with confusion, happiness, stress, exhaustion, and most importantly, Skyline Chili.

Monday, May 18th, 2009. My first day as an intern at Pease & Associates, a small accounting firm located in the heart of downtown Cleveland. I knew they were relatively small but never fully grasped how small. Interns included, there are roughly 50 people that work there, 10 of which are in audit (that includes me). In an effort for you to fully grasp this monumental day, I will relive the experience as much as possible through the art of blog.

7am: I awake. Unsure of what the day will bring, I hit the snooze button on my alarm for 15 minutes, passing on a shower and deciding to simply run some water through my hair. "Man oh man am I tired," I say to myself as I walk down the stairs, "I better make myself some breakfast so I can be energized on my first day!" I make myself a bowl of cereal and eat about half of it before heading out to the bus.

8am: Being the gracious person that she is, my sister helped me make my way through the hustle and bustle of the RTA public transit. Without her, I don't think I would have ever made it to Pease. I am expected to arrive at Hannah Theater (Pease is located on the 8th floor of the theater) at 9. It was 8:30 when I arrived to my destination. With so much time to kill, what do I do? Do I risk the embarrassment of walking up an entire half hour early? Will people even be there then? I make my way up to find two other young, professionally dressed individuals sitting in the lobby. I introduce myself, they do the same, we become instant BFF. Both are one year away from graduating Baldwin-Wallace, a decent school but nothing compared to UD. Finally, one last person walks in. It's a fellow UD student! Another instant BFF. Once 9am rolls around, we begin our trek to the main conference room to begin training.

9am: Training commences. I soon realize that I am going to be the odd man out during this experience. The room consists of the four interns, four new hires in the tax department, and a partner. Out of the four interns, I am the only one in the audit department. The three others are in tax. Losers. 

We learn about the company, and Alyson (Joseph Pease's personal assistant) tells us about some of the fun activities that they have. To my surprise, a couple UD alums have started a tradition known as "Skyline Day" where they pick a name out of a hat and treat the person they pick to Skyline, giving said person the entire history of Skyline on the trip there. I am on the edge of my seat waiting to be picked from that hat. This internship was worth it just to find out that there's a Skyline in the area! My life is set!

I'm happy to know that no matter how far away from UD I may be, there will always be something there to remind me. A relief knowing that my own graduation is not too far in the future.

11am: The next training session. This one is geared towards the taxers. They kick me out and leave me for dead. I make my way to the audit department, the small gang of 10 people that will soon conquer the world one trial balance at a time. Once there, I am taught the ins and outs of auditing clients from my officemate Audrey.  Although slightly boring to watch, mainly due to my extreme tiredness that was beginning to kick in, I knew right then that this summer was going to rock.

And roll.

1pm: Lunchtime. Audrey, Mark (an auditing partner) and I go to a small deli located on the first floor of the Hannah Building. Intrigued by the concept of Dayton to Daytona, I give them the lowdown on the wild happenings that only UD students can create (see previous post for more details). I order a turkey sandwich which Mark so kindly paid for. Fully satisfied, we head back up to the audit department.

2pm: More training. Nothing to see here. Move along.

5:30pm: I head home. Waiting for the bus may be the worst part of any man's day. Homeless people are asking money from you left and right. Being a young college student in business professional garb, I am obviously an easy target. After a half hour of waiting, the 39F finally arrives to take me home. My day is over.

It all starts over at 7am tomorrow. Be ready.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of what I did today. Nothing too eventful, but I know you guys all want to be me, and I am more than willing to help.