There are rumors that go around about internships—how you’ll fetch coffee for everyone in the office, how you’ll be doing all of the tasks that are considered undesirable. In school, these rumors were echoed in the form of the horror stories of my classmates getting internships at companies that forgot about them a few days after they were hired.

My internship at Quietly was the exact opposite of those rumors.

There’s a feeling you get when you walk into somewhere special, a positive feeling that’s hard to place, but something tells you you’re going to love it. It’s a feeling that tells you that you’re welcome there, that you just stepped in to an open, inclusive, and fun community. What I’ve just described is the feeling you get when you walk into the Quietly office.

As someone who isn’t a fan of getting out of bed before 10 a.m., my biggest worry starting my internship in May was the hour-and-a-half-long commute in the morning. But by the end of the first week, I couldn’t wait to be back in the office, despite the long drive. Of course I enjoyed my down time, but few places are as exciting as a startup during the day.

From day one at Quietly, absolutely everyone in the office went out of their way to make me feel welcomed, supported me through my learning, and allowed me opportunities to grow in various areas. I learned quite a bit about entrepreneurship, start ups, and organizational behavior while working on my undergrad at Carleton University, however, experiencing it all first hand was just that much more powerful.

In one of my Organizational Behavior and Entrepreneurship classes last semester, a point touched on was the importance of involving the entire team, keeping an open environment, and having a positive feedback loop. At Quietly, these are daily practices.

Every morning, the Pro Outreach team, which I was a part of, meets at 10 a.m. sharp, prepared and ready for an energy-boosting meeting. The meeting is only 15 minutes, but everyone walks out fully understanding what’s on schedule for the day. Each member of our small team has a chance to voice their opinions and shape the path of not only that day, but also the future of Quietly. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the entire office meets to discuss what every team has accomplished, what’s up next and any good news. There are no secrets, jobs aren’t being done twice, and everyone is integral to the success of the company.

My internship has been eventful, educational, and one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

It’s hard to figure out how to be flexible in a fast-paced environment, but flexibility and the ability to adapt to change was a major part of this internship. Originally, I thought it would take me a week or two to learn the basics, then everything after that would be fairly similar from there on out. This (thankfully) wasn’t the case. I improved my research skills and learned how to assess different publishers based on their assets. I was learning and doing different tasks each week. One week I was repurposing old content from long form to list form and the next I was researching and creating original content. The next, I was researching potential clients and doing example lists while the next I was interviewing influential people to create fresh content. Sometimes, I even was behind the scenes doing research and the next I was bringing on a new client. The list (get it?) goes on.

Here’s a list of five life lessons I learned at Quietly that I’d love to pass to interns and professionals alike:

I can’t believe how fast three months at Quietly flew by. Although my time as an account coordinator is coming to an end, the relationships I have made and the skills I have gained will stay with me forever (insert cheesy face here).

Image: JJ Losier/Flickr