Something I don’t want to talk about because it’s awkward is about my internship when I was 20 years old.
This internship was filled with the most amazing people that made me feel like I belonged on the team and in the industry….except for one.
There was one person in a different department that made me feel inferior and would only speak to my male intern counterpart. On a business trip, he made a point to grope me while we were in a crowd. I felt like I was in a nightmare. Did that really happen?
Like most women in this situation, I blamed myself, for what I’m not sure but I wasn’t going to say a thing to anyone. I didn’t want to be singled out as “difficult.”
Until I had my monthly one on one with my boss. He asked if everything was okay and before I knew it the words tumbled out of my mouth and tears welled up in my eyes.
This amazing man made me feel heard and cared about. He immediately involved HR to report the incident and banned the coworker from even entering my work floor.
This story still makes me nervous to share because I worry I’ll be labeled as difficult or a man-hater when in actuality it was a man who listened to me and defended me. I’m pro men and pro women but most importantly I’m pro-self-esteem.