Feel Like the Shrek Donkey Intern at My BB — Anyone Else?

Just started my internship at a BB in Europe, in a credit role (think DB, BNP, Credit Agricole, UBS, etc.), and honestly — I’m struggling more than I expected.

It’s not the hours or the pressure. It’s that there are so many tiny guidelines, processes, and case-by-case nuances that I feel completely lost. Every time I try to move a task forward, I hit some weird exception or policy or internal rule — and I just don’t know what to do. Half the time, I can’t even find the relevant info buried in the internal wikis or folders.

So I end up asking the A1 next to me for help — constantly. (He’s the nicest guy ever, super patient.) But I still feel like a complete idiot. Like I’m the Shrek donkey of the desk, asking dumb questions all day long.

I get that interns don’t know much — fair enough. But I hate feeling helpless. I want to earn my spot and become more useful, but I also don’t know how to fast-track the learning curve when 80% of it seems to be tribal knowledge.

I’m already doing the usual: taking detailed notes, avoiding repeating questions, trying to figure stuff out solo before asking — but I still feel like I’m falling behind.

For those of you who've been through this — how did you deal with the early feeling of “I don’t even know where to start”? Is it just a matter of time, or is there something smarter I could be doing?

Appreciate any perspective — especially from people who were once in my shoes