Make friends with the ones in your boat.

"Can you imagine when we sit here by the end of the semester? Do you think we'll remember this feeling?" we said on the metro to Farragut West that cold day in January earlier this year.

And yes, I do. I do remember. I remember thinking that it was going to be an exciting experience, but other than that, I didn't really know what was waiting for me. As it turned out, I became a part of a solid Intern Team and I've learned just as much from the lovely ladies below as I have from the company's CEO. There is a certain beauty of being tossed together with people so very different from yourself. Don't forget to seize that opportunity whenever it happens to you.

All you people interning out there, make friends with your fellow interns. After all, you're all in the same boat and there are certain things that only "The Interns" will understand and share. We have our secrets. We have our routines. We have our lingo and we have had a lot of fun.

Thanks to my fellow interns for making this semester great! Now it's time to enter that office one last time and before I leave, try to pass on as much Intern Wisdom as I might have. There's a new crop, coming right up.

"Certificate of Awesomeness" – Internship closure.

Here we go, running towards the finish line of this internship. I will only be working three days this week, because I came in Friday and had a last day with all my fellow interns. And what a day! We mostly enjoyed each other's company one last time before it was time for Happy Hour, where we received so much love and so many nice words from the whole team.

It was such a surprise and I was a bit touched when we all got a "Certificate of Awesomeness," an adorable trophy and other personal recognition. I guess my hard work has been appreciated. And I guess I still have somewhat of a way to go to stop constantly doubting myself.

Three more days of being the Best Swedish Intern on M Street. I will enjoy every second of it. Because this opportunity is one of the best that was ever given to me – or that I actually worked hard to get. It didn't at all turn out as I had imagined from the beginning, but in the end, it did indeed become absolutely awesome.

Milon The Mad Men Secretary.

Speaking of weird skills, the other day my supervisor came to me with a seemingly weird question and the conversation went a little something like this:

Supervisor: Hey, Malin, do you know how to type?
Me: Type? Yeah. Or, what do you mean exactly, "type?"
Supervisor: I mean, on a typewriter.
Me: Ehh, I guess so. I used to play with my dad's old typewriter all the time.
Supervisor: Oh, really? Good!
Me: Yeah. But, do you even have a typewriter?
Supervisor: Yes, I think so. I'm pretty sure I've seen one.
Me: I'm sure you have, some time back in the 80s or 90s!?

But my supervisor was completely correct and, in a corner, we found the big, grey device that has been hanging in there until this very day. "I always say, you never know when you need a typewriter," to quote the company's CEO and yes indeed, that very day I actually needed it.

I felt like I was in an episode of Mad Men as I sat there with the clickety clack sound. Although, there was no bourbon and my dress attire was not nearly as neat as Joan Harris's (but the again, when would it ever be?). I really wish I would type more often. On a real typewriter. It was kinda' fun, I tell ya'!

All your weird skills matter.

"Malin, how is your Russian?"

Quite honestly, my Russian is not that good. It never was – because I never studied Russian, obviously. But I am interested in languages and somewhat of a linguistic nerd, so when I was asked to help out with some Russian pronunciation at work the other week, I was happy to jump in and make an honest effort.

Luckily, I have a friend who do study Russian, so that was my first source. Then, I listened over and over and over to a sound bite while transcribing the word in question into phonetic symbols. (For a language nerd, that's a party!)

See, my point here is that all your weird skills matter, so don't hide them. I haven't been asked to show off any acrobatic skills yet, but if the moment would come, I could. I actually once did a cartwheel in front of a group of future co-workers, simply because our instructor asked if anybody could.

Don't be shy, fellow interns. You are you because of all the odd things that you know, so let it show. Unless it's something obviously inappropriate – I mean, that beer chugging record you hold might be better suited elsewhere.

Miss Organizer was there again.

Today was kind of a slow internship day when all we did was waiting for it to be meeting time. Almost like kids waiting for Christmas. We just wanted to present our ideas and share many week's work for some feedback and directions on further actions.

As we all know, it's not the whole month of December that moves slowly, it's the very last day before Christmas – Eve, in the case of a Swede – that seems to be like the longest day in the history of the world (every year!). This was the case for today's afternoon.

I simply couldn't deal with the all the waiting – patience is not always my strongest weapon – so I started cleaning again! And let me tell you, the supply closet has never been more neat after my obsessive organizing.

"Oh, wow, looks good. I bet you like it, huh?!"

Yes, yes I do. I do like things clean and organized. Ah, the great satisfaction of the simplest things in life – to organize the mess that we sometimes create and then enjoy the beauty of a spotless surrounding. And for your information, the meeting went well and next week we will have lots of fun things to do. For now, I say good night and wish for you the sweetest of dreams. I'm pretty sure you deserve them, because don't we all?

Confessions of the OCD Intern.

When you're The Intern, you sometimes find yourself with nothing to do. If you're anything like me, you then give yourself something to do. I was in this exact position Thursday afternoon and when a delivery of supplies came, I was happy to get out of my chair and unpack the boxes.

But, it didn't stop there. Because if you are anything like me, you don't just put the new box where it fits, but you want some kind of organized system. So it started with my rearranging some kitchen supplies. Easy. Then, for some reason, I opened the microwave and it smelled an awful lot like an Indian restaurant in there. When I had a closer look, I could actually see the whole Indian restaurant had, as a matter of fact, exploded in there.

Clean freak as I am, I just couldn't leave it. And there I was. All of a sudden I had created some kind of obsessive cleaning duty for myself. The whole kitchen became my mission. And I've got to tell you that it was kind of refreshing. Ehh, think-wise, not literally – some parts of that fridge had not seen a sponge in a long time.

I enjoy working with my hands. With my body. Standing up and getting dirty. It was actually a nice break from sitting down, looking at a screen, trying to figure out how to be creative. See, this whole blog post actually came to me while scrubbing old food off the kitchen cabinets.

We all have our ways. OCD cleaning is one of mine. 

Does it show? I don't know. But I'll do it anyhow.

When you're sitting by your intern desk, a little bit aside from most of the others, it's sometimes hard to know if it shows, if it's recognized, the small things that you do. I've always been a hard worker and I like seeing immediate results. That's why working in a restaurant suited me well. There was always something to do and I was always doing something.

"Never, ever carry an empty tray," was the advice my first restaurant manager gave me. So I didn't. I made sure to always carry something from the kitchen and always bring something with me on my way back.

At an office, that kind of hands-on-always-carrying-something is a bit harder. But I try. When I haven't been asked to do anything specific or sense that it's not a good time to bother people with questions, I create work. I clean the kitchen. I organize office supplies in neat piles. I check the printers every now and then. I make coffee if nobody else has. I rearrange the magazines and newspapers so it looks nice for potential visitors.

Those things don't end up on the company Web site. I can't print it and add it to my portfolio. It's nothing that will drive the company to success. But I'll do it anyway. Because not everything is about results. Additionally, and most importantly, that's just how I am.

Being noteworthy is not only about others to notice you. Don't forget to be proud over yourself. For the things you know that you do. For just being you.

Learn from the Pros.

Disconnect, unplug and leave those emails for later! Apparently, Saturday was National day of Unplugging. We were supposed to disconnect from our dear tech devices and don't care about work. Did you know about it? Did you do it? I knew about it, but didn't do it. I spent all my day with my Mac in my lap, thinking about the work week to come.

And here it is, Monday morning again. We summed up last week with a great meeting. It ended up lasting for two whole hours, where we interns presented some research, opened up for good discussions and received a whole lot of valuable feedback and insights.

I'm sorry if I'm being repetitive, but receiving feedback is really key to making progress. Also, listening to ideas from somebody who has been in the business – and been successful too! – for more than 30 years is the best lesson of them all.

All notes from Friday's meeting are waiting for me at the office. After some rearranging of my schedule, this will be a short week, so let's go ahead and make the most of it!

Nope, no unplugged Saturday for me.

You heard me, leave the office and GO HOME!

I just read a brilliant piece about why we should leave work when we are supposed to, and not stay those extra hours. The gist of the article is basically that working over time doesn't really mean you're getting more work done. We need rest to stay focused and creative. True story, true story.

This semester, I have the best possible schedule. I am working Monday through Thursday, 8:30am-5:30pm. Every other Friday, I meet with my classmates for a seminar, where our professor continuously educates us in American culture, history, what have you and encourages us to keep up the good work at our internships.

Basically, I have a four day work week. Absolutely perfect. Even though I like working and being busy, I enjoy this period – after reading the previously mentioned article with a little less guilty feelings of admitting that an extra day off every other week is kind of neat. Who knows when it will ever happen again? Probably never, since we live in a real world of 55-hour-week-working-people.

That being said, tomorrow I'll be at the office even though it's Friday, since I'm taking a day off next week when I will have visitors in town. But as the article suggests, I will do my job when I'm there and make sure to leave on time. Also, I believe most workplaces have lunch breaks for a reason. People, realize that we need that short period of time in the middle of the day to re-energize; with food and possibly some leisure reading.

What did I learn? I don't know. What did you learn? I know!

What did I do and what did I learn? Keeping a journal of your work duties is easy. More difficult is answering the question of what you learned, when you pose it to yourself. A few days ago, I had somewhat of an aha experience, when someone else asked me what I had done and what I had learned.

I found myself in the middle of an enthusiastic explanation of social media statistics, strategies and ideas. I simply knew what I was talking about and I realized that it was all recently acquired skills.

In addition to getting feedback, the receipt of knowing that you actually learn something, is telling somebody else what you know. Education and knowledge only shows when you get the opportunity to show it off. That is why I enjoy working in a team, it gives you the opportunity of both asking and answering to questions. Q&A's bring us forward, make it fun, show us what we know and what is yet to learn.

Where to be, what to say, what to do.

Being an intern is sometimes being in a rather odd position. Simply because you don't really have a fixed position. You're not an employee, so you're not exactly equal with the others and you don't have the authorization to do a lot of things on your own. Nor are you a student, so you're still expected to do certain things on your own, without constantly seeking for advice.

You are the intern and you are in the middle. Even though it can be a bit confusing, finding the proper balance and the right spot at the right time, it's a great opportunity – just because of that adapting-to-the-situation-postion. It teaches you a lot and I am very grateful for the internship opportunity I have been given.

Unfortunately, that opportunity is soon coming to an end. Note to self: make the most out of it!

They say that it's Spring Break...

...but I don't really know what that means.

Yesterday, it was spring, for sure, I get that part. The warm feeling in the air, happy people in the park and sun kissing my skin made the day so much lighter. But a break? What for?

As I'm now more an intern than I am a student, I don't feel like I need a break. My break is every single day. My break is when I get up, go to work, fulfill my duties and take notes of all the ideas that pop up in my head. My break is when my mind is busy focusing on now rather than later.

Now, this Spring Break week, I really have to deal with later. Be creative. Make decisions. Write down ideas and figure out how all ends are going to be able to meet. Not so very breaky, but absolutely necessary.

Spring Break. Whatever. Me and my roommates like to take every opportunity to celebrate and did so yesterday by visiting Kramerbooks & Afterwords (apparently we are now officially Washingtonians), browsing along the aisles at Barnes & Noble, ending the night in laughter and tears watching The Descendants. That's what I call taking a break. Lovely night with lovely ladies.

Books and Food. What a delicious combo.

We found the right section.

Have no fear.

You gotta do it to be it.

Some days, it seems like all you can produce is just major paper jam in the printer and a mess on your desk. However, one must remember, that other days, the printer runs smoothly and the mess can turn into an okay blog post or the beginning of a project.

Keep on working. Keep on trying. Keep on producing. Inspire and be inspired.

Monday Lunch Luxury.

There are two Frozenyo waaaay to close to where I spend my days. What to do?! Monday lunch luxury, even though I never really needed any comfort – it's been a fun and creative day – but Frozenyo is always right.

Froyo for all, yo!

Into the social media realm.

Being an intern is about so many different things. It's about getting experience, learning about a particular business, networking, showing your skills, acquiring new ones, being grateful for the opportunity, being ready to deal with the leftover tasks and having the courage to ask for new projects. Also, and what I personally think is the most important aspect, it's about finding your thing.

This constantly goes through my head. What do I have an eye for? Were do I have chances of becoming successful? What do I like? What is my thing?

A few weeks ago, me and my fellow interns were given a research project involving social media. Yesterday, we presented our material to the whole team and not only was I satisfied with all the great feedback, but I felt a rush of excitement presenting something that interests me. Needless to say, when we were asked to dive even deeper into the social media sea, I started jumping up and down (actually, not really, but I did so in my head).

I'm looking for my thing and I think I might have somewhat of a notion of what it could involve. To be continued.

Fulfilled Feedback.

What did I do and what did I learn? Those are questions my professor want me to answer for the Internship Journal that I'm writing for class. But, that is also what I constantly ask myself as I leave the office at M Street every day.

This Thursday evening, I realized to appreciate the great value of feedback. As I was waiting for the light to shift to white for me to cross the street and walk towards my building, I evaluated the day as having been very good. And why is that? Because today consisted of two meetings and a lot of useful feedback.

Working with the one same project for a long time can feel like running around in a circle. Have we not touched upon this before? What more can we do? Enter: feedback. For the questions you can answer, you realize that you have done some good research. For the questions you cannot answer, you realize that you can always improve.

It becomes obvious what the heart of the story is and the small cracks appear for you to fix. It's rewarding as well as stimulating. So keep on working and ask for somebody's opinion on what you have achieved.

Coffee, cookies and YouTube.

Today's intern tasks included reading about Google+, familiarize myself more with this social network, sending out emails to TV and radio stations, reading advertising news and getting inspiration from YouTube videos while having coffee and cookies.

Well, having coffee and cookies was not really mandatory. However, I had already prepared the coffee for my colleagues and the cookies were leftovers from a meeting and who knows when they would have been eaten, had I not taken one (two, actually)!

Definitely a good day.

Lunch break in the sun. It was 62°F (17°C) outside today!

@TheOffice.

It's definitely a big change working from 8.30am to 5.30pm when you are used to studying. But it's a good change. Even though I am a night person, I like getting up in the morning when the city is relatively quiet and everything around me is yawning, stretching, getting ready for new adventures.

I make sure to take my time, have my coffee and catch up on the news before I head off to the office. I have enjoyed these first two weeks working and I like the routines of getting up early and coming home late. I easily get bored, but working in advertising and learning about a completely new field is so exciting so the routines are just a good frame for my otherwise very different days.

Off to M Street and another exciting day. This will be a good week!

I wrote a press release – a real one!

Today, I contributed to my very first press release. I mean, a real one. A real one. Not something like this or this. No, no. This was a real piece of information put together to deliver the news about what has been going on and what is yet to come.

I learned some really good stuff from my colleagues, things you definitely don't learn in class. If you're nice to me (preferably by buying me lunch at Busboys & Poets), I might tell you about the small tips and tricks I picked up.

Other than the press release, I have been doing a little bit of everything today; proofreading, putting together some research for a meeting, reading about social media and performing other smaller office duties. I'm getting more comfortable every day. Practice makes perfect and I love to learn how the business works.

Two thumbs up. Day one as an Intern, check!

Honestly, I barely slept at all last night. Talk about sova räv – sleep fox. Yea, I know, don't even ask, it's just something funny they say in Gothenburg. Anyhow. Got up earlier than I have in a month and ran out in the rainy Virginia/DC morning.

I smiled all the way to the office. With a heart pounding a bit faster than usual, I admit it. Entered and started breathing. I didn't die. Nobody ate me. Nothing hit me in the stomach so I couldn't breathe. Everything was just fine.

Exciting? Oh yes! Did I feel like The Intern? Oh yes! Will I like it? Oh yes, I really do believe I will. Miss Control Freak – and that would be me – just wants to get to know all these small things and then I will feel comfortable grabbing what's in front of me. I am pretty sure that I will have an amazing time and I know for a fact that I will learn a lot.

And what will I bring to the team? Always my smile and a good heart. That's how I work and operate and so far it has proven to be a good method. Intern Adventure, here I come!