Being a Cleveland native is something I take very seriously. Living in this city has shown me passion (how to love), loss (how to cope), accomplishment (how to gloat), and heartbreak (how to move on). Each new season brings along a new reason to love this city of dreams (totally just made that up, but I’m diggin’ it).
Amazingly enough, very few interns were familiar with the Cleveland area (shocking, right?). I just assumed that everyone would be from the area and everyone would know the city… not just because we’re supposedly the “mistake” on the lake.
Cleveland is the place I’ve called home for the past 21 years (amazingly). When I was looking for a college, I wanted to stay close to home. When I searched for summer jobs, I wanted to stay close to home. Searching for an internship was a little different. I still wanted to stay in the area (Cleveland is the city), but I also wanted something that would stray from my comfort zone. I applied to Flashstarts thinking it would be like any old internship, but boy was I wrong (that’s a good thing).
I admit, I had no idea what to expect on the first day of Flashstarts. I wondered up to the daunting and slightly creepy second floor of the Terminal Tower and found a few other interns clustered in the middle of a giant empty office space. I thought we had been lied to. What if this was the way they were firing us? Soon enough Taylor showed up and reassured us that this was the place. This was where our summer started. After introducing ourselves, the other interns and I realized we were all in the same situation; we had no clue what this internship was about to grow into.
Flashstarts has become one of the best teams I have ever been a part of. Everyone is here because they want to be, not just to fulfill an internship credit for school. And (thank god) the Cleveland jokes are at an all time low. The city is changing, and the other interns are noticing. Cleveland is finally the place to be, and the city is redeeming itself.
I can’t think of a better way to be spending my summer. Flashstarts is so much more than an internship; it’s a family. And I love it. Watch out, world. Cleveland is here.
Position: Graphic/Web Design Intern
College: Kent State University, Class of 2015
