Summer, 9-to-5 style

My boyfriend's coworkers have been making fun of him lately because, all of a sudden, Mr. Not-A-Morning-Person began showing up promptly at 9 a.m.

I don't know how he answered their questions about why, but I can only hope he said it was because he'll be driving his wonderful, brilliant, time-conscious girlfriend to her internship on the other side of downtown St. Paul every morning for the summer.

At least I know his explanation had the word "internship" in it because a coworker asked, "Oh, is it Kate's first internship?"

The Boyfriend probably laughed out loud. "No," he said. "I think it's, like, her tenth."

I am an eternal intern. That's all there is to it. I suppose I could have a real job. I have had real jobs (sort of). I've at least been offered real jobs. And really, I hope to have one sometime around the fall of 2010. But you couldn't tell that from the past few years. I've interned everywhere from my hometown weekly to the big-city newspaper, from nonprofits focused on everything from reproductive health to immigration policy, and from the morning TV news to a certain magazine many men treat as their Bible (no, it has nothing to do with bunnies).

So I think I'm reaching expert intern status, and I thought I'd share some tips for all of you doing internships this summer. You're probably just getting started or just ending your honeymoon phase, so I hope these come in handy!

1) Make the 9-to-5-ing bearable. I have major, major problems sitting at the same desk staring at the same computer all day--and, at a week into my fulltime government internship, I'm remembering how brutal it is. My absolute lifesavers are:

• Making my desk homey! Yep, bring in those dog pictures, favorite pens, cactus.
• Giving myself breaks. Sure, IT might be watching me take the occasional web trip to CNN, the New York Times...OK, OK...Facebook, Twitter, E!...but I allow myself those mini-breaks before and after I hammer out something major, or at critical losing-focus points.
• SNACKS. Seriously. Snack drawer is a must-have.
• Little strolls around the office. I will honestly get up and get my four copies of something from the printer separately just to walk around.
• Taking full advantage of lunch. I admit sometimes I fail at this, but I always find that leaving my desk--and preferably my building--for lunch gives me a nice break and, usually, the will to go on for the afternoon (until that awful 3 p.m. coma).

2) Make sure it's mutually beneficial. Unless your boss is either a) not very smart or b) not very nice, he or she knows that you're both supposed to be getting something out of this internship. I know goal-setting can be dorky, but I had to do it to receive school credit, and I actually think it can be extremely helpful. It forces you to have The Talk with your supervisor and gives you a contract of sorts to pull out and point at when things aren't going as planned. I try to reassess periodically and think, am I learning stuff? Am I developing skills? Am I being helpful?

3) Be proactive. Really. I swear the biggest complaint I've heard from friends who have interned--and from myself--is that they don't have enough to do. And trust me, it happens. Often intern projects are the things on an organization's wish list, the things their regular staff don't have time to do, so they're not necessarily anyone's priority but yours. That slows things down. But as uncomfortable as it might be the first time, take that opportunity to ask for more work or suggest a different project that interests you. Not only does it look good to get the ball rolling yourself, but you won't have hurry up and X out time-killing Facebook everytime someone walks past your cubicle. Working when you're supposed to be working is best for everyone.

Are you doing an internship this summer? Have you done one before? Spill your tips and tricks in the comments.