19-year-old intern turns drab office into a warm community just two weeks in, earns longterm offer: ‘The office feels less like a place we clock in and out of [now]’

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jun 19, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

The vibes in an office are very important! Truly. You could be hired to work your dream job, but if the vibes are off in the office and you walk in feeling down and stressed, that's going to eat up your soul no matter what. But if the office workplace vibes are vibrating on a higher frequency and all the co-workers actually care about each other, even if it's just within those walls, it's a much happier place to work. And that's important! After working so many toxic jobs, you will start looking for places to work solely based off of vibes. 

 

In the case of this workplace, the office had simply become a place people clocked in and out of. It took a 19-year-old to remind them that it doesn't have to be that way! 

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  • The intern was hired during a busy time, so onboarding has been pushed and pushed. Instead of the intern just sitting around twirling his thumbs, he decided to make himself useful in some sort of way. So he cleaned up the shared kitchen and then came in the next day with fresh home baked banana bread. Turns out his hobby his baking, so he was more than happy to bake for them! The office quickly became lively and everyone had a great time sharing the banana bread. Now there are talks about hiring this intern (technically a teenager) a longterm position! Kindness can go a long way. 

  • Cheezburger Image 10518481920
    via Unsplash+ (and Austin Distel)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "The Intern Who Made Our Week Brighter"

    We got a new intern two weeks ago, and I'll be honest, most of us were too busy to properly onboard them. But instead of just sitting around or doing the usual coffee runs, they started helping clean up the shared kitchen. No one asked them to. They just saw the mess and took care of it.
    via FloraOnDuty
  • Then came the Friday meeting. Intern walks in with a homemade banana bread. Said they baked it as a thank you for letting me be here. It was actually good. Like, dangerously good.
    via FloraOnDuty
  • We found out they're majoring in psychology and love baking as a hobby. That afternoon, almost the whole team ended up chatting in the break room for over an hour. Just... laughing, swapping stories, getting to know each other again.
    via FloraOnDuty
  • It made the office feel less like a place we clock in and out of, and more like a community. Can't believe a 19-year-old reminded us of that. We're now calling him Chef. The intern blushed so hard when he heard that.
    via FloraOnDuty
  • Cheezburger Image 10518487808
    via Unsplash+ (and No Revisions)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • TabuTM Maybe reward his servitude with some training. FloraOnDuty OP Talks are in place to get him a more permanent position with us.
    via TabuTM
  • Ampersandcastles_ Offer to be a reference or to write a letter of recommendation when their internship ends. FloraOnDuty OP Wayyyyyyy ahead of you.
    via Ampersandcastles_
  • SherbetMaleficent844 Give them an internship where they gain valuable skills and knowledge! You should be ashamed that the things you're excited about is the intern cleaned the kitchen and baked banana bread!
    via SherbetMaleficent844
  • Separate_Wall8315 Unless you work in a restaurant give the kid some real work experience.
    via Separate_Wall8315
  • Similar-Squirrel-980 Sounds like you've got a new Office Manager, get rid of the old one or create a new position for them.
    via Similar-Squirrel-980
  • One-Restaurant3353 We recently got two summer students (in their early 20s) & they have been a breath of fresh air in our office too! The enthusiasm & willingness to pitch in wherever needed is something I have especially appreciated. It's really changed the office vibes for the better.
    via One-Restaurant3353
  • I took on the task of onboarding them because none of the actual managers could be bothered. I've let them know I am available anytime & no such thing as a dumb question. Luckily they're pretty independent so I haven't needed to do much hand holding.
    via One-Restaurant3353
  • I hear a lot of criticism of Gen Z but given my experience with these two, it seems a bit unfair. I hope they become permanent hires.
    via One-Restaurant3353

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Tags

management optimistic new employee internship office work employee work culture trainee manager hired 9 to 5 intern new hire work faith in humanity hiring Office uplifting workplace training Reddit banana bread
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