Link Internship
Link is a three week long internship that all juniors go on at Animas High school. It is a graduation requirement for students to choose an internship that interests them and work there to experience a job they may be interested in. It is a great opportunity because with the help of your teachers you can choose an internship and are given school time to experience this. For my internship I went to Hawaii and worked with a private chef as well as did all the necessary preparations to start a food cart. The goal of my internship was to learn how to start a small business. I worked at a business called Lilikoi Creations a private chef company.
Anticipation and Preparation
To find my internship the first step I took was to look for something I was actually interested in. I knew what I was interested in but I struggled with narrowing it down to an actual occupation. I thought about going somewhere to work with animals but after doing that for osprey week, I decided to choose a different path so I was exposed to new experiences. I then decided I wanted to learn how to start a small business because I may choose to do that in the future. I contacted two people but one did not have anywhere for me to stay and it would have cost a lot more so I decided to go to Hawaii and stay with friends to start a food truck and work for a private chef. I chose this opportunity because it was on the ocean which I love and living near it is a goal in my future. From this experience I wanted to learn how to start a small business and learn about cost benefit analysis and how to efficiently make money. I hoped to bring a good attitude and a new point of view to the company as well as do the work to start up a food cart for the business. I was the first intern at this company so I think a mark I left is the idea that interns are possible at this company and maybe in the future other kids could do the same thing.
Project Description
For my link I had two jobs. The first was my project, I had to figure out what would sell best from a food cart, determine costs and profits from these items, fix the food cart, permit it, and begin to run it. This was my project for the company because it is something they have been trying to start for a while but did not have the extra hands on deck to finish it. In the end I was not able to get the cart running because the permitting office was under renovation and the cart had a structural problem but I fixed the cart and made it ready to run. The second job on my internship was working for a private chef. I would cook and prepare food at very nice house parties as well as serve. I really liked this part of the job because I learned a lot about food preparation, cooking and serving techniques. I worked seven catering jobs at houses and was able to learn a lot about company exposure and finding more business. By doing both of these jobs, I was able to learn what is necessary to start a small business of your own. This could be important in my future because owning a business and living by the beach is one of my dreams.
Here are some photos of me at work during my link project.
During my link internship I was able to go surfing a few times which was exiting and added another unique experience to my time during but outside of my internship.
Link Reflection
When coming to link one thing that was helpful is I already had experience with cooking. When making the meals I learned a lot of new things but it helped that I knew the basics of what I was going to do on my internship. One example is when cutting vegetables in certain ways amor cooking things certain ways were already normal for me which helped a lot. The most important skills I think I learned during link was the necessary things to start a small business. I learned about how to analyze costs and make prices and how to get a permit and meet certain safety and sanitary restrictions in order to start a business. These will be very helpful things in the future I think if I decide to start a small business when I get older. One thing I struggled with a little bit on link was having to listen to my mentor. When doing certain things I like to do it my own way but I knew I had to listen to my mentor. I was able to refine this skill during my internship and practicing doing things certain ways even if I didn't agree with them. It was good work on doing everything I am told and just practicing being in a working environment. For the business I was working with I was able to show the people I worked for that high school students are capable of doing the jobs they expected to be done by adults. I occasionally cooked and served in very fancy houses and you could tell the people enjoyed having a young person around. My mentor also enjoyed having someone young around and I think she would enjoy having another student to work with her. The internship prepared me for my future because I practiced and learned the necessary steps to start a business which I would like to do in the future. I don't know exactly what I am going to study in college but I could see myself owning a small business of my own in the future.