Mid-Semester Hustle: Confessions of a Counseling Intern with a Full-Time Job

By mid-semester, the rhythm of the counseling internship is less of a rhythm and more of a juggling act. A full-time job in one hand, graduate courses in the other, and somewhere in between, the delicate balance of supervision, case notes, and reminding yourself to eat something other than vending machine pretzels.

Here’s the reality:

• Workdays blur into internships. The transition is seamless if you don’t count the quick costume change from business-casual employee to “empathetic intern with a clipboard.” (And yes, both roles rely equally on coffee.)

• Supervision is a lifeline. It’s the one place where admitting “I’m not sure if I handled that perfectly” isn’t just okay—it’s encouraged. Which is good, because “not perfectly” is the working title of this semester.

• Class readings multiply. Textbooks arrive in stacks, as if someone thought the best way to teach counseling was to simulate client stress levels. Spoiler: it works.

A few survival lessons I’ve picked up along the way:

1. Case Notes Will Wait, Sleep Won’t (Except Sometimes It Does). Inevitably, you’ll tell yourself, I’ll just write this note later. Later arrives, and so does your 6 a.m. alarm. Congratulations, you’re now fluent in writing DAP notes in your head while brushing your teeth.

2. Clients Don’t Care About Your Semester. They care about being heard. And that’s humbling in the best way. No matter how hectic my schedule feels, their story deserves the same presence and attention as if I had all the time in the world.

3. Self-Care Gets Redefined. At this stage, self-care m

   ay look less like yoga retreats and more like finding joy in a functional pen or a quiet 15-minute drive between work and internship. Small victories count.

Dry humor aside, the truth is this: mid-semester hustle for a counseling intern with a full-time job is demanding, but it’s also transformative. Each late-night reading, each supervision meeting, each carefully written case note adds another layer to professional growth.

And someday, when the degrees are finished and the “intern” title drops off, maybe I’ll even miss this season of organized chaos. Though, hopefully not enough to recreate it.