Intern life equals work, work, work. Former Philly Pop Up Weddings intern Dante S. McLeod proved his loyalty unquestionable in unexpected and difficult times while working at the event planner.
McLeod started interning at the venue on June 15, 2021. His role was blogging about venue events; this is what was agreed upon. Although he thought his role was set, McLeod would soon learn of the unknown duties lurking that he didn’t sign up for.
Multitasking, long workdays, and slim to no help became the norm of McLeod’s summer. McLeod was told other employees would be joining him but only one ever came. Meanwhile, he expected his boss to be there but that rarely occurred.
Most workdays, McLeod worked from 11:00 a.m. too late at night, going way over the four-hour shifts promised. His tasks included cleaning, decorating, organizing, customer service, and scheduling on top of his blogging position. Sometimes he even had to handle his boss’s responsibilities, even on his days off, wasting much of his time.
On top of that, he had to travel long distances by bus and train to work. Living in Philadelphia, McLeod often passed through rough, dangerous neighborhoods. Luckily, the Philadelphia native knew how to handle himself in these environments.
His work seemed to go unnoticed at times. For instance, McLeod would organize the back-storage area just for his boss to mess it up and tell him to reorganize. Also, his boss would get impatient with McLeod’s work pace, forgetting he was mostly the only employee.
At events, it was hard for McLeod to perform his blogging duty. He would have to find time to interview people while still doing other duties. Thinking he would write at work, he soon realized that days off or blogging after shifts would be his only chances. Obviously, working at home after a full days’ work isn’t reasonable, so McLeod went with his second option.
Why didn’t he quit? What’s the point dealing with all that? He had these thoughts many times.
McLeod had many chances and reasons. The pay made the internship bearable, and he also felt bad about the short staff. His boss isn’t a bad person but really busy and needs help.
His boss noticed his work ethic and often praised him, telling him he would go far if he kept the same habits. McLeod has shown he can conquer challenges thrown at him, and that he will be true to those who count on him. He has been even more strengthened for future endeavors.
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