Waking up in the morning, I scroll through the usual Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. During the summers, there is the Gmail addition. Or whatever email app that you use – of course, for internships. I scroll and keep refreshing, hoping that there is an interview mail. Nothing. I visit the ICU of an email – spam. Again, nothing. I sigh and continue my morning chai, biscuit, and the weight of 5 kilograms of my failure.
What exactly went wrong??
I open my brain’s toolbox and try figuring out what actually went wrong in the process. Maybe I do not have the right amount of experience. Or it did not apply to me. Maybe some people were more qualified than I was. Or I should have added that award from my grade two writing contest. Maybe I forgot to add a full stop. There goes my brain, on an overthinking high. Moreover, sometimes I sit there and proceed in overthinking. Other times, I grab my laptop and scour Facebook and various student groups for more internships in a rush of excitement.
The selection process
On brighter days, I receive an email from a decent firm requesting to bless my presence in an interview. I get excited and thank God that at least someone thinks I am good enough and is ready to give me a chance. Furthermore, I put myself together in every sense for this interview. I am ready to put my best foot forward on Saturday afternoon. Since we are in covid times, I happily enter the meeting room and patiently wait for my turn.
The moment I start speaking two good words about myself, K-electric starts its monkey business. Of course, the lights, and most importantly, the WiFi goes off. I pray that I haven’t drained my last two MBs of the Internet and check my Internet bundle. I sigh as I realize that God has saved me one more time. Alas! There is a move-in happening right above me.
Then there are days where I receive an email congratulating me on my acceptance. This could be after a long, tedious application process or due to filling a form just five minutes ago. The latter does happen beyond dreams, I promise. In sheer delight, I rushed to update my Facebook family about my latest achievement. The following three days are spent responding to the wave of congratulations that have flooded my posts. If I choose the right settings on Facebook, I can be saved from this, but I have to let Farzana aunty know that I did this before her son.
Conclusion
Several memes on social media make everyone realize that they aren’t alone in between the whole process. There are many like me out there, with dry inboxes and empty spam. The best meme I came across went along the lines of ‘I created my own company to intern at. ‘I am as desperate, my friend, but I am way lazier than you are, I tell myself. However, there is always an opportunity for everyone. The best attitude is to be hopeful and wait for the opportunity to come by.
