MAIP Experience Pt. 2

Similarly, during my time at Stink, my emotions followed a similar cadence: I cried, I laughed, and then I cried again.

My first few weeks at Stink were mentally rough, not to the fault of those at the agency however! I’ve come to find that anxiety, imposter syndrome, poor work-life balance, and a sleep disorder will give you a helluva emotional cocktail. To quote one of my journal entries from the beginning:

“I feel kind of weird about my internship. I feel like I am not really certain if what I’m doing is right or not….what if the work I do isn’t up to the standard that they thought I was at. Like what if I can’t prove myself of my past work? Idk.“

Very sad boi vibes. I know yikes.

But sometimes that’s how things start off when you have such a crazy opportunity staring you in the face like that.

As time went on I had so many amazing conversations with incredible people and eventually realized that everyone at Stink is rooting for me and that the awe and excitement I felt towards them is mirrored back at me as well. To quote my work buddy/mentor and studio enigma Stanley: “at the end of the day everyone is here to learn something”. 

The following weeks flew by and I had so much fun in between doing exciting work. To highlight a few of my favorite moments:

• Our intense butter discourse that almost ended friendships

• Watching a soapbox derby documentary

• Office dogs

• Being asked to join their queer slack channel

• The naming schemes for colors and style tiles

• Snooping around the Notion staff directory

• Losing my mind over informatics

• Debunking GenZ stereotypes

And that brings me to now where I am now, wrapping up my final week with Stink. I always hate it when things end and I know for a fact I will cry once my last day comes but I think that just speaks to the impact this experience had on me. I am so grateful to all the thought and care that has gone into crafting this internship and hope to cross paths again with everyone someday!