Hi everyone!
My name is Julia and I am here to tell you a little about my experience as an intern at Rocycle in the middle of a pandemic.
Rocycle is an independent fitness company with a sincere hospitality touch. They have 6 operating studios in The Netherlands and are about to expand into Europe with first openings in Germany.
I started working-out at Rocycle a few months after I moved to the Netherlands in 2018. I had been under a lot of stress due to the fact that I was all on my own for the first time ever, so it was the perfect place to sweat it all out. After a few workouts I realised I really loved it there so I decided to apply for a job and I got it! It was nothing but fun so when it came to choosing an internship there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted Rocycle to be it.
Something to take into account is that I applied for my internship before the first cases of Covid were reported, so I did not expect the rollercoaster of emotions that came with my internship. I started my internship in Amsterdam, September 2021. It was right after summer, so everybody had forgotten about the pandemic due to the nice weather and the lack of restrictions. I was getting to know my colleagues as well as my new job role, slowly settling in and getting ready for an adventure. Some of my tasks were to take care of the Rocycle website, customer service and making sure everything ran smoothely within the workplace. My main task, was however, supposed to be the German expansion. Did you notice I said “supposed to be”? Well this is because this was the first turn in that rollercoaster of emotions.
In October 2021, after the summer bliss had disappeared, our neighbouring country Germany decided to go into lockdown. This meant that the project that I had been so patiently waiting for never happened. At the time, I still had hope and decided to continue my journey as a Rocycle intern down another path. This new path would take me to be a Duty Manager. Rocycle had been opening multiple pop-up studios around The Netherlands throughout the pandemic, and my new role meant that I would be managing one of these pop-ups, specifically Rocycle De Marktkantine. I was part of interviewing, hiring and training the new team and the setup of the new studio. I was nervous because I had been given a huge responsability that I didn’t know if I was going to be able to handle but at the same time excited as it was my first real challenge.
We opened! and it was a huge success. If I may say so, I was killing it! The team, the studio, everything was working perfectly and I was over the moon. This is until, of course, The Netherlands went into lockdown. Another turn in that emotional rollercoaster. I still had hope, and after two weeks we opened again. It was just a little break and everything went back to being amazing. The studio was still doing very well and I was enjoying my internship to the fullest.
I had high expectations for December 2021. But then again, my expectations did not become reality. In December, The Netherlands went into yet a lockdown and is still in lockdown until this day. My internship is long gone and so is that little hope that I had left.
The internship itself was a huge learning experience filled with challenges, and the pandemic was definitely the biggest challenge of them all. But from challenges you learn and grow, and I am proud to say that I am a better person and a better communication scientist because of it. So if you’re looking to spice up you’re internship, this is your chance!
All the best,
Julia
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