May through September of 2009 was one of the most trying times of my life! The last 12 hours of my graduation requirements consisted of completing a 480 hour internship. I was in a car accident in March of that year which kind of put a damper on my internship search. I ended up finding out in the middle of April that I got an internship with the Greeneville Astros. The Astros are the rookie affiliate of the Houston Astros, playing in the Appalachian League. I was so excited about the internship for a few reasons. I love baseball, Greeneville is pretty close to Knoxville, and I was going to make great connections and get a job at the end of the season! In short, by the end of the summer I was over baseball, was so sick of the pavement between Greeneville and Knoxville and I was unemployed!
One of the first things I quickly had to decide was where I was going to live for the summer. Since I would still be paying rent in Knoxville and this was an unpaid internship, getting an apartment in Greeneville was pretty much out of the picture. After talking to one of my best friends in college who was from Greeneville, she told me that she would talk to her parents about staying in their basement apartment for the summer. I was very relieved at this possible option because it would be free and was only about five minutes from good ole’ Pioneer Park. I ended up going up to visit Brittany and her parents and deciding that this was a great option. I am so thankful to the Pilons for being my family that summer!
I knew that I would be one of six interns for the summer, but I wouldn’t get to meet them until the first day of the internship. I was so anxious and excited to meet the people I would spend my summer of baseball with. Our first day basically consisted of getting to know each other, our bosses, and a little about what we would be doing for the summer. The six of us were all very different and came from all over the country – Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Virgina, East Tennessee, and Georgia. One of the interns was a student at Tusculum and was returning for his second year as an intern, two had played college baseball, and the rest of us all had some sort of interest in baseball.
I could write a book, a movie, or a sitcom series about this summer, but I have to remember this is just a blog! I could write about the intern that was obsessed with the mascot costume and took it home at night to “make sure nothing happened to it.” I could write about the intern that bolted and headed home after day one. (I am still certain that he was the smartest one.) Or I could write about the intern that may or may not have gotten a virus on the computers from looking at porn. Instead of writing about them, I’m going to write about two of the best friends I have ever had.
I guess when you spend 15 hours a day for seven days a week over the span of five months, you can either really dislike someone (hate is a strong word) or form friendships like none other. When it comes to Chris and Trey, we definitely have special friendships. I talk to Trey pretty much every day about everything from politics, relationships (one of us goes through a lot of those), baseball, and of course memories of that one summer! I will be participating in Chris’ wedding in September and could not be happier to see him start this new chapter of his life.
There are A LOT of negative things I could say about that summer, but what I like to focus on are the two amazing friendships that came out of it. I hope that we will continue to laugh about that summer for many years to come! Here is a picture of the three of us from a “Reunion Trip” we took to St. Louis:
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