The stereotype of an office intern alludes to the classic task of making coffee. In fact, I was given a coffee mug that reads, “Fill this, Intern” when I told a few friends I would be an intern this summer. Luckily, at U.S. SQUASH, this is not the case.
After accidentally hanging up on and sending a few callers to the wrong voicemail box (I’m sorry if that was you), I eventually found my groove. Interning at the U.S. SQUASH office in New York City was a great opportunity.
I worked on several different projects over the course of the summer, including one of my main jobs of sorting through the U.S. SQUASH Scholar-Athlete Award applications—which hit a record high of over 200. I also continued a project spearheaded by last summer’s interns—archiving past tournaments into the U.S. SQUASH database. In addition, I sent out several membership mailings—stuffed, stamped and sealed every envelope. These membership mailings ensure the continuity of U.S. SQUASH and help with the expansion of the sport; at least that is how they consoled me when handing me a list of 500 recipients.
However, my biggest task didn’t even take place at the office. In the midst of my internship in late July, I was asked to help run the Boston Summer Gold junior tournament at Harvard University. Fortunately, the tournament coincided with the Women’s World Junior Championships, also held on the Crimson squash courts. I was initially sent to Boston to help with the junior tournament, but happily stayed longer to lend a hand with the Women’s World Junior Championships; setting up and making sure the tournament ran smoothly. I was lucky to be able to watch some amazing squash as part of my job. In retrospect, interning for U.S. SQUASH was a great experience, even with the few phone mishaps. It was a great opportunity to work in an office environment and experience what it takes to run a tournament, as well as meet and interact with different types of people.
Most importantly, I never had to make anyone coffee.