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This was my first week of being an intern for Wall Drug in South Dakota. Growing up and visiting my grandparents when I was younger, I never thought that in a million years I would be moving back to the place they call home and be working for the drug store (that's expanded into one of the largest tourist/retail attractions in the area) I use to run through as a young child. This place is so much more than just a place to do my internship, in many ways it's like my second home.
Starting off my internship this past week I was really unsure of what I was going to be getting myself into with a store that offers such a big variety of things to the thousands of tourists that come to Wall Drug. From the first moment I stepped into my internship I was really nervous about being in a place I'd been to thousands of times before but this time it was different—I wasn't the tourist this time, I was offering the tourists the experience of a lifetime. Having to meet all of the people this past week who are the owners of the drug store was so unreal to me, in many ways it felt as if I was in a dream. Getting the chance to meet all of these important people that have known my family members for generations was remarkable. I was so nervous because I didn't know what they would say or how they would react to me meeting them. I could not have asked for a better introduction to the owners of this establishment that has been around since the young pioneer days.
In the short amount of time I have really taken what I've learned in the classrooms to the place where it matters- the real world and daily decisions in the retail world. This week has shown me so much in terms of things learned in the classrooms and there are so many things that I am able to do and use from those school lessons, things are just falling into place perfectly. The challenges I've been faced with so far this week have taught me more about what it's going to be like in the real world but they have also taught me about myself. Other than the challenge of trying to fit into a new place, one of the biggest challenges I've had to face this week has been trying to learn how they do things and make everything seem too simple. My challenges (working the long hours day after day to cater to the tourism, and being away from family and friends) and contributions to my internship has been as simple as great customer service to getting to pick the products that they are selling to their customers, getting the chance to work with the buyer was simply amazing.
This past week was in many ways a whirl wind of days and learning experiences for me. From starting as a retail sales associate and getting to work hands on with the department heads that are the hands on buyers for the retail stores here to being given the chance to interact with a local sales retailer and being given the chance to pick the merchandise they are going to sell in stores was amazing. Even though I just started my internship, I have already learned so much and am continuing to learn as they days go on. Getting the chance to interact with the buyers on a daily basis has opened my eyes to how much thought and time they put into bringing the perfect merchandise to the customers, I can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks have in store for me as I continue to learn from every experience.
Of course having roommates that are from all over has been so amazing. Getting the chance to meet so many new people from all over the world is just adding to the internship experiences. I couldn't of asked for better.
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