I have completed my HR internship (and so have many of my peers, it seems). I had my last day on Friday and have sent my equipment back to the office. I had a nice end to my experience, where I was sent warm messages of farewell. I submitted my final research to my supervisor last week. He was very grateful for all the hard work I completed over the last three months. We also had a small debrief, where we discussed my ‘thorn’ and ‘rose’ of the experience, and how to improve on the program for prospective students.
Overall, the best part of my internship was the colleagues. They were all extremely kind, caring, and open. I was also able to connect with so many extraordinary advocates working to bring rights to those experiencing homelessness. I am hopeful and optimistic about the future, given that such brilliant and thoughtful minds are engaged in this space. As I left, there was a new Minister announced to work on housing in Trudeau’s cabinet, which the team seemed excited about (so watch that space).
I adapted to the remote work environment, and was able to really get immersed through the online workspace with the use of company email and Teams chats. I would recommend anyone who works remotely to try to get installed on these softwares to really integrate with the team, and bring the social side to complement the research and other work involved.
Looking back, I could not have predicted how my internship evolved, but I am glad with how it turned out. I had come into it with the intention to work from the office some days, but little did I know that the office was actually under construction and that no one had been in it for months. I pivoted and embraced remote work: I set up in the comfort of my own home office. I even got to meet up with the Montreal contingency of the office on the Lachine Canal.
Now, I get to enjoy the next few weeks of summer, which includes a week getaway to my family cottage on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick.