Kendrice Roc

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤. I called it 2 am interview prep sessions, 200+ rejection emails, and a deep faith that refused to quit. 🙏🏾 As a first-gen college student, the tech industry initially felt like an exclusive club. I used to scroll LinkedIn wondering what secret playbook everyone else was using to get in. The roles felt out of reach. The interviews felt like auditions I hadn't been given the script for. And every rejection email quietly whispered the same thought: "𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." But here's what I've learned after landing at Google twice: 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦. 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. And the hardest part of it all? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. So when the doubt crept in (and it did!), here's what I did to get out of my own head: 1️⃣ I opened my 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. Every win, every impact, every "thank you" I ever received was written down. On the hard days, I read it cover to cover. You have done more than you think. 2️⃣ I went to 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲. Yes, I said it. My therapist kept me grounded when the rejection pile felt taller than my confidence. There is no weakness in getting help. 4️⃣ 𝐈 𝐳𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭. I had to recognize that the situation could always be worse. The fact that I even had the opportunity to apply, to be rejected, to try again... that itself is a 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 that I refuse to take for granted. 5️⃣ 𝐈 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝. Because every time I thought I had my plans figured out, He had a better blueprint. Trust the timing, even when it makes no sense. 6️⃣ I asked myself one question: 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍? You see "Digital Strategy Lead at Google." You don't see the rejections, the sleepless nights, or the version of me that almost convinced herself she wasn't good enough. First-gen. Business major. No roadmap. No blueprint. Just preparation, persistence, an unbreakable support system, and a God who kept opening doors I didn't even know to knock on. If you're in the middle of the grind right now: stacking applications, racking up rejections, and wondering if it's worth it, I'm here to tell you, 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒. Your luck is being built right now, in the preparation no one sees. 👇 Drop a " 💯 " in the comments if you needed this reminder today or tag a friend that needs to hear this!

Most people who land their first internship make this same mistake. If I did, I wouldn't be at Google today. As a first-gen student, landing my first internship felt like I had won the jackpot. So when the return offer came around, accepting it was a no-brainer. Right then and there I thought, "𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸!" 🤣 It's every intern's dream. I could finally rest assured knowing my next opportunity was signed and sealed. WRONG. My mentor stopped me in my tracks. I didn't realize it at the time, but she gave me advice that changed the trajectory of my career forever.  💯 She said, "𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯?" I had never thought about it that way. The mere thought of saying no to an offer felt terrifying. But that fear? That's the trap that could have held me back. At the time, I was so focused on the safety of the offer that I hadn't stopped to ask myself if it was the 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 offer. Truth is, intern season where is one of the few times where exploration is not only 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥, it's 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. Use it wisely. It's okay to take a moment and assess the opportunity before you accept it. Looking back, here's what I was grateful to have known as an intern: ✅ Don't be afraid to try internships at 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬. The culture you love (or hate) will tell you more about your future than any job description ever could. ✅ 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 = 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. More people. More opportunities. More options when it truly matters. ✅ Having 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. You want to accept a full-time offer because it's the 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 choice. Not because it's the 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 choice. I was so grateful for a seat at the table that I almost forgot I had the right to choose 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 table. 👇 What industry are you interning in right now and what other fields do you want to explore?

4.6 million students wanted an internship last year. Half didn't get one. ✋🏾After almost 3 years at Google, I’ll be the first to admit that when I went to college, I had absolutely NO CLUE what an internship was. While everyone around me was interning at Amazon, Deloitte or a cool startup, I was lacing up shoes at my local Footlocker. I felt so behind. Spoiler Alert: I wasn't. And if you're reading this without an internship lined up, neither are you. The good news is, you still have ample time to gain just as much knowledge and experience as your peers! Here's 4 things you can do if you didn’t secure an internship this summer: 1️⃣ Take a bootcamp. Pick one skill you're genuinely curious about and go deep on it. Curiosity is a credential. 2️⃣ Create your own internship (yes, I said it). Reach out to someone you admire and offer to help. Build a website for your local church. Design social media content for a small business. Help a nonprofit with their data. Companies LOVE people who don't just wait to be handed an opportunity but ones who are willing to create one.   3️⃣ Network like it's your job. Because right now, it is. Build genuine relationships. Have real conversations. Most opportunities I've landed came through people, not portals. 4️⃣ Stack certifications. Google, Coursera, HubSpot, AWS, etc. The internet is full of free and affordable credentials that signal initiative. Internships are opportunities to help you understand what you love, hate, and what direction to keep going in. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐢𝐭. You are defined by what you do with the time you have, and right now, you have more than you think. 👇 Drop your major below. Let's talk about what YOU can do this summer to stand out... Internship or not. I'm rooting for you!!

NEVER GIVE UP. 29 points down ➡️ 1 point up.🧡💙