“Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.” My Mom and I loved Dory, and hooked from the start, Finding Nemo became our favorite movie. Dory wasn’t the brightest fish in the sea, but she kept swimming. That ultimately saved her and Marlin, and they eventually found Nemo. 

Just as Nemo left to go to school, so did I. It was the end of my junior year, and my internship search began. This was stressful as I had to find a suitable internship without help from others. But at the start, I wasn’t too concerned about landing an internship. A friend easily landed one with a video production company, and I assumed I could contact his internship mentor and get something similar. 

I crafted an email and had my teachers and friends proofread it, as I had no other alternatives at the time; I wanted to get everything right. I sent the email and waited patiently for a response. Days grew into weeks, and an epidemic of worry and doubt took over as time began to abandon me.

Finally, he sent, “Sorry, I am not taking interns now.” The worst news became a reality. Without a backup plan, I was back at ground zero. But I can thrive at times like this, so I quickly devised a plan.

I scoured Google Maps, searching for local film/video companies; as I roamed the map examining various businesses, one caught my eye: Blue Barn Creative. I visited their website and checked for emails and phone numbers. After I scrubbed through every part of the site, I came up empty-handed. After that thwarted attempt, I moved on to another means of investigation. I researched Linkedin and looked at Indeed internship postings. Determined, I tried Blue Barn and still came up empty-handed. My last resort option was direct site messaging. Through many of the crews' personal websites, they had a contact page, so in desperation, I added my contact with a message and sent it off. Most likely into the abyss. 

I repeated this process with other companies for a solid month and a half. By the end of this search, I had investigated over 20 companies and contacted 10. Over three-quarters of those attempts went into the digital abyss. I periodically found an email to contact them, but even those efforts could have been more fruitful. Eventually, one company replied, only to say they weren’t accepting high school interns. Back to ground zero.

With a hint of surrender grabbing me, I gloomily try one last time. This time, I found a pearl in the depths of the barren sea of explored companies. One shined through the rest, New Evolution Video. I went through my highly refined contact process. I was desperate. It was my very last chance. My newfound detective skills uncovered the email of the company's president. I emailed him. In precisely 17 minutes, I got a response. “Very impressive. I’d love to speak to you about this. When are you free to discuss?” I never anticipated receiving such a quick and positive response. I responded to his email just as quickly - typing as fast as I could to set up an interview for the following day. 

I was overjoyed! Only able to think about the interview the next day, I hastily finished class and dashed back home. Stumbling up the stairs, removing my clothes as I raced to my bedroom to secure suitable attire for my interview. I quickly grabbed my matching suit and pants, leaped into my chair, and turned on my camera.

The hard work finally paid off. On the verge of conceding and drowning in the sea, I kept swimming and found my own pearl. My perseverance convinced me to trek on, that if I kept working hard, the results would come, and they did. That perseverance told me to just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, Just keep swimming…