And the day Sabina, Tom and I have been avoiding is finally here (not Tom, he’s just a weird dude). My 6-month internship with Swift Kick is over, and I’m sitting here writing this as I wrap-up my last day in office with these two awesome people. I’m not technically sad because even though I’ve been “joking” that I’ll always be stopping by, truth is… I’m not joking. Haha, I will need doses of Swift Kick once in a while. I mean, how am I going to make it without Sabina saying weird (but totally okay) things like “you look sad… here, let me touch you” or Tom’s sound effects in meetings? Exactly… I just can’t.
This may sound weird but when I thought of the things I would miss the most at Swift Kick, the first thing that popped in my mind were the meetings. Here we have a very particular way to run meetings, so as my wrap up post I will for one last time use the Swift Kick meeting set up.
First we start with a brainstorm exercise, mine is going to be 5 ways Swift Kick influenced my life:
- Building my own core values. Since day one, I learned something really important from Tom. Yes, we all have guidelines that we follow. Don’t kill people, be nice, be polite… but do we really need to be reminded of these things? Create core values for yourself of things that you need to move out of your comfort zone to do, because that’s where growth happens.
- We want everyone to be successful, we’re just trying to be a little more successful. I’m one that always puts people’s happiness before my own, and many times I found myself on the ditch because of that. Balance is the key, and Swift Kick reminded me daily that it’s okay to help people and be there for them. Don’t forget about yourself, though.
- Amazing network. I met so many amazing people through Swift Kick, be it directly or indirectly. There were the SLC people, the other people in this office, Jay, Sabina, NY EdTech people… I lost count of how many awesome people I crossed paths with and learned from.
- Career in the education industry. As a communication and public relation student, I was never really sure which industry I wanted to go to, and now I just know for sure higher ed is definitely a top priority.
- British accent. (I’ll leave that up in the air)
The next step of the meeting is one big win. Which to me, is definitely learning so much about so many things. My writing and blogging skills got so much better, I learned about so many tools and apps and awesome resources.
Next in line is Done/Not Done, where we say if we completed our main goal of the day before. Of course, we had good and bad weeks. Some weeks I slacked, some weeks I lost myself and did poorly in time management, but I can say that so much got done and so much got accomplished this semester. I look back at July and I can’t believe how much I’ve done and been a part of through Swift Kick.
Blockers? (Questions or problems?) Swift Kick opened my mind and cleared my path so much that I currently have no blockers. Sorry, not sorry, Tom.
My daily rock (goal of the day) is to take with me as much as I can, especially the core values. They are company core values that I will forever apply to my personal and professional life and use it to raise my tide.
Finally, we finish off with some gratitude; 5 things you’re appreciative of at the moment.
- Sabina, for being a boss, a friend and a sister. For supporting me through thick and thin and always be pushing me and reminding me that I can do better, thanks for being willing to hold my hands and walk me through things when I had no idea what/how to do something.
- Tom for putting up with my weirdness, for listening and taking my opinion into consideration. Thanks for teaching me professional and life values. You certainly raised the bar for my expectations on future bosses, and I’m glad you did.
- The Student Leader Collective team (aka Juan, Kirby and Zach). I don’t know if you guys realize how much of a help you guys are. Sabina and I wouldn’t accomplish half of what we do if you guys weren’t here to support us and help us out through things. Thanks for welcoming and accepting me with open hearts
- #SLchat. I will always be grateful for #SLchat. That’s how it all started and how I found out about the internship and how I met student leaders just like me all over the country.
- Coffee, because coffee has always made the list since the beginning, and it couldn’t be different today.
And just like that, I say goodbye to one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had. To the rest of you, if you have the time and the chance, apply to intern with these guys. The things you’ll learn will be valuable to you forever, and you’ll be able to apply these things to pretty much every other aspect of your life.
Stay gold everyone and Happy Holidays.
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Nat, I can truly say I have found a sister and a friend in you as well. Thanks for making such a huge difference in our awesome company. I am going to miss you dearly, but I know this isn’t the end of your contact with us. You better show up with ice cream again soon. You are truly a rock star, and we can’t wait to see what epic things you do in the future. -Sabs
