Internship placement is a tricky thing. It is hard to land a good place but I can call myself an exception.
I landed a placement in a well reputable organization. A place which would make anyone super proud to include on their C.V.
I am going to first make this disclaimer; My boss’ interest in me is not my making. That I am sure. I’ve and always made sure I dress right, carry myself right, spoken right but the guy just won’t let me.
My internship place offers very good conditions but my supervisor has become a problem. He is over 20 years older than me, and is “attracted” to more than my eagerness to work with intellect, gain experience and skill.
Let me share with you what happened one day. During orientation, I approached him to ask a few questions about the organization. We decided to grab a table in our coffee room and continue the conversation thereon.
I sat down, and then he took the chair right next to me—on the same side of the four-seater table. I found it a bit strange, but I continued on with our conversation.
His next move was to put his arm around me. I leaned forward to separate the physical touch and continued with what I was saying. I was uncomfortable, but I dared not get verbal. I knew my peace during the stay was highly dependent on him so I pushed his uncomfortable gestures out of my mind and continued with the conversation.
But it didn’t end there. A few minutes later, as I was leaving, I went to shake his hand but he caught it and placed a kiss on it. after all that, he invited me over to his place on the weekend. This offer disoriented me so much I couldn’t even speak. I was mortified. He had this stupid grin the whole time.
I went away with a swirling mind and a turning stomach. I was hurt and annoyed, and I was frustrated by the fact that my attempts to forge a professional connection were being treated this way. Why did he think this was acceptable? Why did he push the boundaries so far? Is it because he regarded me as a mere intern? I felt ashamed and even wondered if what happened was in some way my fault. But rationally, I knew it wasn’t—and I wanted to do something about it but what?
That was just the beginning, soon he started sending messages on my phone and calling at weird hours. Messages like; pretty dress you wore today, or that’s a really nice pair of legs you got. I felt trapped.
I gathered the strength and decided to express how i felt about his behaviour. Eventually, I expressed this discomfort in a text.
To my surprise he didn’t seem offended. He replied saying an ethical person like me didn’t deserve less than to be retained. The flirty eye blinks still haven’t ceased though. It doesn’t seem like he got the point but am glad I told him. I work hard to at least have a perfect report but I am still worried that my efforts could go down if he was more offended than I think. I need God to intervene.
