I interned with Riot Games in 2009. I loved them as a place to work, and they were really keen on me as an employee! But they were actually still quite small at the time and not very rich. They had about 80 employees not counting building staff. My internship went great; every day was literally a blast, but the 3 months were up and it was time to either hire me or I would have to go back home.

About 2 weeks before end date, I had a meeting with my department head, a person from HR, and Pendragon, and they gave me the bad news that there was no immediate budget for a position, but they wanted to hire me. Their offer was to extend the internship by 4 to 6 months and then hire me on as soon as they could afford to.

The catch? That internship would have to be unpaid.

An unpaid internship in Santa Monica, CA for up to half of a year.

It was my dream job in my dream place, but I just couldnt bring myself to ask my parents to foot that for me after everything they had done to help me pay for college. I just couldn't. It seemed cruel. I barely slept until the point I got legitimately sick in my final days there before I had to tell them I could not say yes.

I tried again to get hired there once or twice a year or two later when I was financially healthy enough to afford the move but the positions were all different and the company had EXPLODED in the best possible way.

I deeply regret not being able to say yes, but I also don't feel bad that I choose to not take advantage of my parents.