During my second year of law school, I scored a summer internship at one of the biggest firms in the city.

I had high hopes the gig would lead to a future full-time job, so I was a bit of a perfectionist. I took on extra assignments all the time and even came in on weekends.

By mid-July our performance reviews were in, and when I got mine, I was absolutely gutted to see a “needs improvement” notation under the section about communication skills.

And if that slap in the face wasn’t bad enough, my boyfriend had just broken up with me.

Fired up by anger, I emailed my supervisor to ask for a meeting, and then cried in my cubicle during my lunch hour. What was wrong with me? I was smart, had high grades… and I was pretty cute-looking according to my now-ex, who repeatedly... Read More