I’ve been a Midwest kid my whole life. Moving from Ohio, to Illinois, to Missouri, and then finally back to Ohio, it’s all I knew for my first 18 years. I definitely know starting up somewhere new is never easy, especially when you only have a limited amount of time to be there. I knew I would be leaving for college less than 2 years after my final move to Ohio. Since then, I’ve attended school in North Carolina and now in New Hampshire. I’m not a stranger to living somewhere new. However, moving to an area to pursue a work-place position is something that is brand new to me. It definitely hasn’t been easy, but as the third week of my internship at Indium Corporation in central New York comes to an end, simply being here is something I’m very proud of, and I am excited to see what lies ahead in the coming weeks.

I started my internship roughly two weeks later than my fellow interns at Indium Corporation, and I’ll also be staying for a few weeks after they’re gone. I wasn’t able to go through intern orientation with them, so I was a bit apprehensive about getting to know them as they had already begun making connections and learning about one another. My worry soon dissipated as I was shown around the company’s headquarters where I was introduced to and got to speak with each of the interns that I would be spending time with during the next 10 weeks. While the initial introductions were brief, I have gotten to learn more about them during “airport” work sessions and intern Lunch N’ Learns.

The aspect that has helped me adjust the most has been how helpful everyone around me has been. Whether it’s my parents going the extra yard and looking through the internet for things to do in the area over the weekends or my supervisor taking me to lunch at the end of my first week to check-in and make sure I’m not feeling too overwhelmed in my new situation, I’m lucky to be around people who want to make the transition easier. Not only that, but living with three other Indium interns for the summer has been great as well. I was able to ask them questions about their first few weeks before I got started and know if I still have any questions, I can easily ask them.

Knowing I’ll only be in Utica for 10 weeks certainly adds another layer to the difficulty of being in a brand-new place. Getting into a rhythm of coming into work Monday through Friday and being surrounded by great people both in the workplace and in my summer home has helped to lighten the worry that I often feel of being somewhere far from where I call home. Whether it’s exploring the area on the weekends or getting a “taste of Utica” at the weekly Lunch N’ Learns, my first few weeks here have gone better than I could have imagined. I can’t wait to see what other experiences the area and Indium Corporation have in store for me.