What I've Done All Week...

Look at this being back on track!  It has been a busy week, but pretty wonderful because it was my first week as an intern with Southwest Airlines!

SATURDAY - Dad and I met Lindsey's parents, got a tour of her beautiful home, and began the process of bringing in way too many clothes for this little bit of time.  We also went to the bank to finally get my multiple account plan set up (nerd alert), got some sheets, exchanged shoes, and so on... Dad flew home Saturday afternoon and I practiced the drive from Lindsey's house to Headquarters!

SUNDAY - I guess all of the time on the road got to me because I overslept instead of going to church with the Heaberlins... oops!  I took a trip to the post office to send some cards, finished unpacking, and spent some time talking to Lindsey's family once they got home.  They had the small group from church over, which was super chaotic, so Lindsey and I helped with that... we talked a lot with her mom about September 11th, but I tried not to watch too much about it on tv because I would end up staying up all night thinking things over.

Our care package from SWA

MONDAY - I got to go to our Intern training with my lovely t-shirt that we had all received in the mail.  We also got a copy of the book Nuts! about Southwest and learned so much about being an intern and a great representative of the Company.  Sarah Riggs saw on twitter that we were taking a social media "class," which taught me to make sure to state that these ideas and opinions are my own, not Southwest's!  We had lunch at Celebration Market and met the rest of our department.  Two of the ladies I interviewed with hugged us, and everyone was SO nice!  Our cubicles were decorated beyond my expectations, and my co-intern is super sweet.  I did a lot of training and reading the annual report before heading home after a successful first day!



Just part of the travel explosion

 TUESDAY - Sarah (my co-intern) and I decided it would be best to do the 7-4 schedule and avoid traffic, so we got there nice and early.  We had a lunch meeting about Safety and Security, where I had my first Potbelly sandwich.  I had heard a lot of great things about them, but I was a little bit disappointed... hopefully just because it was catered.  We had treats with all of the people in our department where Sarah and I had to pass a name test, but we did a great job even with the decoy names in the bag.  After that we had another meeting to learn more about what everyone in our department does and how we will be helping... after all of that, we were exhausted upon heading home.

Delicious lunch at the Landing

WEDNESDAY - I got more training about the accounting reconciliation software (nerd alert #2) and filed with Sarah while our coworkers were in meetings.  We had lunch in the cafeteria upstairs, which was so much nicer than I expected it to be!  Then we had Cockpit meetings, which are the opportunity for other divisions to explain their variances.  We ended up filing a lot on Wednesday, but it was nice because we would talk about the different cities as we filed documents for each airport.  There was an Intern Happy Hour after work, which was nice.  It is interesting to see how different the interns are that are living with other interns versus living with family or friends, but I love the situation I am in.

THURSDAY - All of our meetings and staying late Wednesday meant that Sarah and I were going to end up working too long, so I came in a little bit late on Thursday and left an hour early.  We had a mandatory meeting to learn more about being paid and taking trips and another meeting to learn more about Outlook.  After that we celebrated a birthday in our department, so the day went by really quickly! I also got to start working on more specific and productive tasks, which always feels good.  I had a little bit of trouble when things weren't adding up, and noticing that problem (because of an overlooked instruction) really impressed the lady I was helping - so that was great!

FRIDAY - I came in late again to stay under 40 hours but still make it to the after work get together.  Believe it or not, coming in late wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped!  We had a group lunch, which included some tough movie and tv trivia and tasty pizza.  After work we went to Jake's in Uptown.  I got a little bit off track on the way there, but got to see a different part of Dallas that looks really neat.  Lindsey had texted me about going to the Addison Oktoberfest, but when we were almost there her friends were already leaving... we ended up going to a different Jake's location and hanging out with her friends and their friends.  Overall it was a fun night and a great, but tiring week!