Jumping Into The Unknown

Hi! My name is Kailey Bondiskey and I am currently a rising senior interning at Black Label Keller Williams Luxury Real Estate in Philadelphia as the marketing assistant for the summer of 2021. This internship has taught me A LOT about marketing and real estate of course, but I also picked up some things that can’t be taught over Zoom but rather learned through experience, and that may be beneficial to whoever is reading this now. By the way, I love quotes, so be prepared. 

Confidence comes in the doing.

I’ll cut to the chase. In the past, I have rarely been the person whos willing to jump into the unknown fearlessly. In fact, fear has held me back more times than I’d like to admit, including applying for an internship for three years. Acquiring an internship was always something I put above myself; something for future me to know how to handle. It was something I knew I should do but never felt prepared enough to do. Until I did it. 

Before and throughout my internship, I kept two quotes in mind. The first being: “Your Comfort Zone Will Kill You.” This one is straight to the point and undeniably true. Nothing worthwhile ever came out of comfort, so it’s best to get yourself used to being out of it now. The second quote was: “Less Impressed, More Involved.” I took this one from a book called Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. He explained it by stating, “The sooner that we become less impressed with our life, with our accomplishments, with our career, with whatever that prospect is in front of us, the sooner we become less impressed and more involved with these things, the sooner we get a whole lot better at doing them.” I loved his message and ran with it. So, rather than feeling inferior to those around me who had incredibly successful careers and fearing that I may fail horribly in comparison; I was able to learn, create, and grow. I got more involved. The results of this mindset are life-changing. 

Keep it simple. 

Starting an internship immediately placed me outside of my comfort zone (thankfully). At first, I felt unsure of my abilities and was terrified that I would have no idea what I was doing. But, I decided to push those inconsequential thoughts aside and stay focused on what I wanted: to simply learn new skills and be involved in new experiences. The Black Label team made that part easy to accomplish. I cannot begin to describe the multitude of valuable skills and experiences I was able to take away from this internship because of the people I was surrounded by. Which leads me to my next point.

You become who you surround yourself with.

Surrounding yourself with admirable, like-minded people is the most important and effective way to stay focused on your goals and improve gradually. Black Label’s team is full of extremely driven, optimistic, supportive, and knowledgeable individuals that only seek to bring the best out in each other every day. Ambition, professionalism, and respect lead the way at Black Label and the effects speak for themselves in the company’s success. Having this kind of team to learn from, look up to, and simply be in the same “room” with (It was mostly remote) has benefited me in more ways than I can fit into one blog post. Without the team’s constant support and encouragement, I know I would not have had as nearly great of an experience to reflect on. 

To sum it up: Your internship experience (or any experience really) will only be as good as your mindset, your willingness to learn and fail in the process, and the kind of people you choose to do all that next to!