You’ll have a lot of “teachable moments” when you’re first starting out. You might make mistakes as an intern. That’s ok. It’s uncomfortable to make a mistake.

If you make a mistake:

Take ownership. Don’t try to hide it. Your manager wants to help you, so let them help you by letting them know when you did something incorrectly. Communicate it. It shows bravery and intelligence and allows them to trust you because you’re not hiding anything from them. 

Don’t be so hard on yourself.  Everyone makes mistakes and you’ll have missteps along the way. As long as you learn from them, you’re golden. Ask follow up questions such as “What could I do better / differently next time?” “How could I complete this task faster?”

Ask for feedback constantly – not just when you make a mistake. Feedback helps you improve. If you don’t know what you’re doing that is right or wrong, you won’t be able to improve. So in your meetings with your manager, ask about your progress and what you’re doing right and what you could improve on.

Mistakes happen all of the time. It’s just a matter of moving past them and learning from them. Try treating yourself as your own best friend. You deserve it.