We’re pleased to report that both interns have survived 10 days (possibly 11, or even 12, depending on when you read this) of MACLYN’s Not-Your-Average Summer Bootcamp.

They’ve encountered many challenges along the way, most of which were our fault.

More specifically:

They’ve crawled under great lengths of metaphoric barbed wire, performed thousands of strenuous, symbolically significant chin-ups, and scaled more than a few allegorical mountains (don’t worry – by the end of this, they’ll have scaled an actual, bona fide mountain*).

*Technically, it’s a very large hill. Still, nothing to sneeze at.

In addition:

Our interns have had an excruciatingly awkward encounter with Tiki and lived to tell the tale.

They’ve mastered the baroque and many-layered nuances of corporate refrigerator etiquette.

They’ve even survived a quick but violent scuffle with the large, pituitarily-gifted rodents that loiter in the MACLYN parking lot after 5 PM. Well done, interns.

Anyway. To celebrate their survival and thrival (it’s not a word, but WE ALL KNOW IT SHOULD BE, MERRIAM-WEBSTER), we sat down with the ink-stained duo to get their intern-most thoughts on all things MACLYN.

Without further ado:

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: MACLYN

Katelyn: It’s what I hoped for, but not necessarily what I expected.

Britanni: I’m trying to think of a word.

K: Relaxed.

B: …

K: It’s very relaxed here. Kind of.

B: There’s a lot of passion. Everybody really cares about the work. It’s not just, like, they’re trying to get things done. They genuinely want to do a good job, no matter what.

K: It’s super-hip, which I expected. But it’s not cut-throat, either. It’s a place where the best ideas rise to the top.

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: MACLYNITES

B: They don’t take themselves too seriously, which is nice.

K: I always get worried going into a new place. Like, what are the people going to be like? Everyone here is very welcoming.

B: There’s a lot of different personalities, but they all kind of work together.

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: INTRA-OFFICE BANTER

B: It’s definitely fun to listen to.

K: Yeah…

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: ADVERTISING

K: You can have a creative outlet and get paid for it. Pretty cool.

B: Being here has gotten me more excited about advertising. There’s literally no limit to what you can do.

K: It’s cool that this exists.

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: PIÑATAS

B: Messy.

K: Difficult to hit.

[Katelyn makes a swinging-motion at an imaginary piñata.]

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: CLIENTS

B: Love ‘em.

K: One of them brought donuts yesterday.

B: Yeah, donuts. That was pretty sweet.

[The interns close their eyes and reminisce.]

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: THE FIRST BRAINSTORM.

K: Oh, god.

B: We were terrified.

K: We were both just sitting there, like, “I think we’re just supposed to sit here. And not talk.”

B: And then you’re, like, nervous and trying to think.

K: You’re thinking about thinking about thinking about things.

B: It gets super meta.

K: Once we learned that we were allowed to talk, it became a lot more fun.

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: INFINITE COFFEE

K: Heaven. And then, probably – have you seen Futurama? That episode where Fry gets, like, a hundred cups of coffee?

[Silence]

K: Anyway. It’s just, like, heaven. Until it becomes the worst possible thing. Then, time stops.

B: I get way too buzzed. I get like, “Oh, God! What is life?” You know?

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: THE ENEMY OF AVERAGE

B: Everything you do, even the small things, you think, “I can do better. This is just the bare minimum.” I’ve caught myself, like, “Oh, this is fine!” And then I remember we’re not supposed to say that. Ever.

K: You’re not supposed to be “okay” with things. You’re supposed to always want to do greater. That’s very “me.”

B: #DoBetter.

K: Yeah, #DoBetter.

INTERN-MOST THOUGHTS: TIKI (OFFICE MASCOT)

K: He’s very “MACLYN.” He’s fun, but he’s also a warrior. A “fun warrior.”

Interviewer: Maybe a creative warrior?

[Silence]

K: He’s falling apart, the poor thing.

B: His eyes are closed, but you know he’s watching. Which is kind of scary. But kind of cool, too. Yesterday, we learned he’s not just a thing. He’s an idea.

K: He’s not real. Or maybe we’re not real.

B: It’s like, “Where is Tiki? What is Tiki?” I don’t know, man.