Aren’t Internships Supposed to Open Doors?

By Cassie Lenski, Friday, June 22, 2012, at 9:00 am.

Preparing to film the “Pittsburgh Welcomes One Young World” video, I decided I would get to work early one day last week.

I arrived at our office building, Starbucks in hand, and got into the elevator. Little did I know that my floor required an elevator key and that you cannot get to that floor unless you unlock the elevator. Normally, the first person to the office unlocks the elevator—and apparently that person is never an intern.

When I realized that clicking the “2” button eight million times would not get me to the second floor, the elevator doors were already closed. Thinking this wouldn’t be an issue, I pressed the “G” button since I was still on the ground floor. Nothing happened. Trying “Door open” didn’t work either. Slowly I became aware that I was stuck in my office elevator.

After calling the other interns and getting no response, and praying for someone to come to my rescue, I sat down with my coffee and tried to relax. Having a problem with closed spaces, I began trying techniques to help calm myself down. These techniques are great when you are trapped in an elevator—or for relaxing in general.

1. Breathe. Take slow and deep breaths. This helps slow your heart rate and relax your muscles. It also helps you to not get lightheaded or get a headache.
2. Listen to music. Thankfully, I had an iPod and could focus on music rather than my surroundings. Jazz and soft rock are great options (screamo music will probably make you feel more tense).
3. Stay positive. It’s actually a great mantra for life. Think of things that make you happy or picture yourself somewhere else, a glass-half-full outlook. I was thinking how great a story this situation could turn into.

I wasn’t trapped in the elevator long. A nice man opened the doors only to find a girl in a suit sitting cross-legged on the elevator floor. I wish I had taken a picture of his face.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes about stress, from author and motivational speaker Bill Phillips: “Stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle.” Even though I had a rough morning, I was then ready to tackle the One Young World video.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2012 at 9:00 am. It is filed under One Young House, PR, Technology and tagged with Bill Phillips, breathe, elevator, interns, internship, iPod, Music, office, One Young World, stay positive, stress, stress reducers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.