Paarban's Last Assignment: An Internship Reflection

It would be easy to write about this experience, my time here at Lifelong Labs off as a simple internship when it was really anything but. Traditionally, being an intern is a thankless and painful endeavour that young people go through for the sake of their academic or professional careers. Interns normally get coffee, clean up and do other menial tasks over and over again. More often than not interns are side notes so that the “real workers” can do the “important work”.

As my time here comes to an end, I can’t help but feel a profound feeling of sadness and an even more profound feeling of gratitude.

I was one of three interns at Lifelong Labs this summer and I can honestly say that I always felt that we were valued and that  the work we did was important. It’s not to say that we didn’t do basic menial tasks. We cleaned fish tanks, tidied up after lessons and washed the dishes but not unwillingly and not all the time. The office, which is genuinely even more beautiful than the advertising could ever show, did not feel like foreign. For over a month from ten to eight, 5 days of the week for 7 weeks this was not just the office that I worked at but a temporary home. And if you let it, it can be your home too. It is for this reason I was never truly annoyed by any of the menial tasks that and the fact that our bosses were more than willing to do it themselves and often did do it themselves showed us that we were to some degree being treated as equals. A true rarity in internships.

In fact, I don’t know that calling Mo, Tiffany or Ven my bosses do them nor our experience here justice. They were more than bosses. They were mentors who displayed concern for our learning, concern for our well being and perhaps most importantly concern for our growth. The greatest thing about Lifelong Labs out of the numerous great things, is that there is no hypocrisy. The concept of practicing what one preaches is abundant at Lifelong Labs. The company is dedicated to better learning, whether it be intergenerational, lifelong, project based, applied, collaborative or otherwise. Innovative education is clearly the goal and clearly near and dear to everyone's hearts.

Truly, this should be a surprise to no one. The are dedicated. Truly dedicated. And this dedication to learning means that we as interns were constantly learning. This internship is frankly the greatest course that Lifelong Labs could ever offer, which is quite a statement considering the quality and value of the courses they offer.

We have learned things we always were intrigued in, gotten better at things we already did and learned things we didn’t even know existed. Truly, a case of known and unknown unknowns. I have learned about accounting, marketing, photography, videography and much much more. I have learned about life and it’s often harsh realities as well as the oh so sweet feeling of small victories. 

But as anyone at Lifelong will tell you, learning is certainly not restricted to classrooms. The tasks we were assigned were learning experiences but so were all the fun times we had together. Our non-work antics are in my mind truly legendary. Whether it be going on our impromptu employee outings or the infamous morale boosting snack times I felt that I was not among colleagues but friends. And as everyone knows, friendship never ends.

Alas, my time here does. Mo has asked me to write something akin to a reflection for future interns and I do so with the knowledge that this may very well be my last assignment here at Lifelong Labs. 

Lifelong Labs is a torch. It is a torch lighting the path towards better education. I am not saying that to appease anyone. I am saying it because I am a student and I am envious. I am envious that as a student I will never be able to experience the level of education that Lifelong will one day spread to the world. As I venture forth into my last school year and then for the university and adult life that awaits me I will heed the advice of the Yogi tea I have grown addicted to here. I will always appreciate Lifelong Labs and I will always honour it’s soul.

If anyone reading this has the opportunity to work at Lifelong Labs, I ask you this. If given the opportunity to better yourself, make friends and to learn in ways would you take it ? If you were given the opportunity to have a real glimpse of life after schooling would you take it ? If you were given the opportunity to be a part of something greater than yourself would you take it ? An internship at Lifelong Labs is that opportunity.

Knowing this, given the opportunity to work at Lifelong Labs would you take it?

I did. And you should too.