The internship semester can be very stressful and dreadful for a long list of reasons, from hours of hands-on work to long and boring office days. For me, completing my internship at Hejmo was neither of the two. With a different activity everyday, I never felt boredom or the tiredness of a long day at work. A regular week for me was alternating between listening to DJs mix songs during Open DJ sessions, playing the bass during the OMS bass classes, hanging out with the volunteers in the kitchen during Open Art Space, learning new recipes during Open Kitchen, folding paper plans for the kids in Müttersprachcafe, and of course, eating a multitude of the snacks. Each activity has allowed me to meet new people, learn new skills, and see the internship as more than an internship. The past few months working in Hejmo were filled with laughter, gatherings, community, and togetherness, which I did not feel I necessarily had in Berlin. 
In our free time, sometimes the interns are tasked with different side tasks; building a shelf in the project space? We’re no professionals but we will try! Fix the light bulb that stopped working one day? We’re a little confused but we can do it! Paint the walls for the new year? I would consider us good painters! Ship some orders? I’ve never done that before but it sounds really fun!
The skills and experiences that I have gained in the time that I spent with Hejmo are definitely incomparable to any place I have worked in, simply because the job was not to file paper work or sit in the office for hours reading articles; it was creating spaces that welcomed absolutely everyone. I think that one of the most insightful things that I have gained was everyone’s stories- meeting new people and learning about them, their backgrounds, what brought them to Hejmo, and how everyone’s individual differences are set aside the moment they get together. I met people from all over the world and learnt more from their personal stories than I could have in a school class. I got to know about different traditions that people had, generational remedies for when you feel unwell, many ways to say thank you in different languages, and other things of that wavelength.
Previously known as Give Something back to Berlin, I think Hejmo has and still is living up to the name not only in the past but also in the present. I have received so much through this internship and cannot think of a better way to have spent my semester. Despite being a self proclaimed introvert, the socializing aspect of working at Hejmo did not overwhelm me at all as I found everyone here very easygoing. The work environment was filled with support and I always felt like I had all the resources I needed. I highly encourage that everyone does an internship at Hejmo because there will always be something new to learn, something fun to do, and a new skill to gain!