The different days that we get to have off during any school semester is always interesting to me. Being at CityTech, it’s the only time in my life I’ve ever had time off because of Jewish holidays. (I grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school just about my whole life). Recently, there were at least two weeks that coincided with Jewish holidays. Two of those days, school was not in session while the following week’s additional days of the holiday did not result in school being closed. Although this may seem like a random thing to point out, unbeknownst, a good majority of people who work within the Sacatelle company happen to be of the Jewish faith.
The days in which I attend my internship are Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I typically come in, say hello to everyone, and then get to work or ask for a new assignment if my previous one if done/over. Before I leave each day, I check in with one of the lead designers, who is also one of my supervisors there, and always say, “I’ll see you Thursday!” with a smile on my face.
On Thursdays, since I don’t have any classes on my schedule, I decided to go into my internship at 9am each Thursday. When I arrived on Thursday morning last week, the glass door leading to the door that is the entry point of the office was locked. (They share the space with a fashion company who happen to be there before 9am every day and therefore are the ones who have the door open and unlocked daily-however, the people working within the fashion company are also Jewish and were not in that day.) In addition, I noticed the lights in the small entry way were also office, which is also unusually for me to encounter. Needless to say, I was very confused. However, I tend to be the first one to arrive at the office, so I didn’t think much of. One of the other workers with the keys tend to come in a bit later than I do, so I decided to wait.
Over twenty minutes passed by before I decided what I should do.Ā The only points of contact I had were my supervisors (via email) and the administrative assistant’s email along with the company phone number that is forwarded to his cellphone during certain times of the day. Wanting to get a more immediate response, I decided to call the company phone number.
The phone rang and rang and rang. It never led to a voice message but instead only just hung up after the incessant amount of rings. There was one other time the office happened to be closed on a Thursday that I hadn’t been aware of, but when I had called the office line, a voicemail informed me that they were closed for the weekend and would be reopened that following Monday. However, this time wasn’t the case. Remembering that I also had one of the other lead designer’s contact information, I decided to message him as well. (His response to me, however, did not arrive until the afternoon).
Feeling at a loss of what to do, I decided to leave the internship and head to my job early instead. While waiting for the elevator (which takes a while to reach the second floor that the office is on), I decided to email the administrative assistant about how I had arrivedĀ but there was no one there and so I decided to go to work instead but could come back later in the day if they were still open.
On my way to the train station, I decided to check the email account the internship had given to me. It turned out that an email was sent around 6pm the pervious night about how the office would be closed that Thursday and Friday in observance of the Jewish holiday but that despite that, designers of the company were to work from home. I was bothered to know that after making the 40-50 minute trip all the way to the office that it was all for nothing. But I took a deep breath and emailed back my supervisor (who was initially the one who sent the email out) about what had happened so that she would understand why my designs wouldn’t have been uploaded during my usual working times. After I left work that day, I went home to do my research and start my latest assignment.
What I learned from this experience is that working remotely is a nice convenience. It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you have your laptop and an internet connection, you’ll be able to get your work done no problem. The downside to remote working is not being able to get immediate guidance or feedback on any designs, ideas or need for clarity on a project. I also learned that, although communication is key for any work place, thingsĀ will slip through the cracks every now and then.
