My D25 got an internship as a 14 year old the summer of her rising sophomore year.
We are in a relatively rural small town that just happens to have an animal embryology business and associated lab (run by PhDs, with lab equipment, etc.). My daughter is / was interested in genetics and had had some prior summer courses in genetics through Duke TIP, and the like. One day I happened to be in the local gym where I overheard another person discussing an internship program at the embryology center. It turns out that the person running the center was on the next treadmill. She gave me her contact info and I gave it to my daughter. She contacted the center, interviewed and got an internship.
The internship program was established, but was mainly for college upperclassmen. I think they created a position for D25 because she happened to be local and had demonstrated interest in what they do. At 14 she was not doing high level research, but she did learn laboratory procedure and was somewhat useful around the lab.
So, through serendipity I got contact information, but D25 landed the internship on her own merits (had to create a resume, fill out an application, and interviewed).
i used their product for a couple months and left constant, detailed feedback.
when they opened an internship application, I just applied. no connections, not even in the area.
i did have prior experience with product testing (summer after 8th grade) for a similar startup. that may have helped. plus I did a TON of research on good resumes and tips for job search. my mom also was searching for a job recently (in a sort of adjacent field) and gave me a lot of advice.
i made a series of very bad decisions late in my 8th grade year. stopped working out, lost my academic drive (somewhat), grew resentful.
at the same time, I chose to quit orchestra and do show choir. i am not a good dancer and it took constant practice just to be at a baseline level. i’m talking about 20+ hours a week into something I just didn’t enjoy and that drained me.
i also took a lot of Ls, didn’t get into debate despite being a successful debater beforehand, didn’t get into science olympiad initially, etc.
over time i just grew disillusioned (especially as I got a B in a math class, a subject which I used to be very good at). i also focused way too much on factors i couldn’t control like wealth and nepotism; I live in a very wealthy area and am not wealthy.
this just led to a downward spiral in terms of grades, physique, hobbies, and everything.
when things started going downhill, i thought to myself that I had just changed my focus.
but turns out, usually things in your life go overall good or overall bad. for example, being in shape gives you confidence and energy, which helps in the rest of your life. i was in a downwards spiral (still am) but tried to cope my way out of it.
i learned mainly to stay on track and focus on improving instead of trying to cope and being resentful. hopefully this will lead to an upwards trend. but it should be a cautionary story to other people.