When Antonio Martin started his internship at Google’s Seattle offices this summer, he was struck by how easy it was to get to know everyone.

“Within just one area of desks, you can see many levels of your management chain and you have opportunities for valuable interactions with higher-level people who you definitely wouldn’t see otherwise,” says Martin, a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in electrical engineering and computer science. “I’m a huge fan of being able to bridge those gaps and meet new people in offices.”

Polls suggest that young workers like Martin aren’t alone in finding value in face-to-face interactions. According to a recent report by Joblist, 57% of Gen Z workers prefer in-person jobs, compared with only 34% for millennials and members of Gen X.

As a hybrid intern myself, I’ve had the flexibility to come into Fast Company’s New York City offices three days per week during the summer—although I’m typically here all five days because of the benefits I’ve found from in-person work.

I was curious, though, to learn more about what other interns have been experiencing, whether they were working in-person, fully remotely, or also had a hybrid arrangement. I spoke with Martin and three other summer interns—working in tech, public policy, and journalism—to hear their thoughts on the benefits of each work setting, and how they got the most out of their summer internships, regardless of location. Here’s what they had to say.

1. THE POWER OF PROXIMITY IS REAL

A huge advantage of working in-person is meeting people through unscheduled interactions. Whether introducing ourselves to others in line at the coffee machine or passing by another team’s desks on the way to the bathroom, these moments open the door for interns to build connections with people we might not otherwise meet.

“When you’re in a remote internship, you really only interact with people through meetings—and those meetings tend to have a purpose,” says Stephanie Su, a rising junior at the University of California, Berkeley, working as a hybrid software engineering intern at Snap Inc. “If you want to meet someone casually, you have to set up a one-on-one, whereas in-person, you see someone in the kitchen, you pass by their desk, it’s a lot easier to socialize.”

Scheduled remote conversations just aren’t the same, adds Sasha Gerber, a rising senior at Duke University working as a hybrid public policy intern at Verizon.

“I’ve had a couple of coffee chats in-person, as well as online, but if the ones in-person go longer than the allotted 30 minutes, it feels more natural to talk for 45 minutes. I even had one that went for a full hour just because we were having such a great conversation,” says Gerber. “Sometimes, when having coffee chats online, the clock is right in front of you in the corner of your screen, so people tend to be a bit more conscious of that.”

These unplanned interactions provide a starting point so that a follow-up email gets noticed and remembered, paving the way for future conversations. But the office isn’t just a place to interact with full-time employees—it also provides a sense of community among interns. Young workers at the same company often have similar goals and challenges, so bonding with each other provides us with a professional support network.

Whether with senior executives or other interns, building connections is a cornerstone of the intern experience. “The work will probably stay at the company and it won’t go much past 12 weeks. However, the relationships that you build with people, I find that those are much longer lasting,” Su says. “My favorite thing about my internships is less about the work—even though I love it—but more about the people that I’ve met.”

2. IT’S EASIER TO ASK FOR HELP WHEN YOU’RE IN-PERSON

Every intern has questions, and the office provides a supportive environment to ask for help and collaborate with others. “If I’m working on something, I can literally just turn my monitor to the person next to me and ask their opinion on it, which feels a bit smoother than writing a whole email to just ask a quick question,” says Gerber.

Eleanor Chalstrom, a rising senior at Iowa State University working as a remote journalism intern at Bob Vila, a home improvement website, agrees. “It’s so much more casual to just ask a question in-person, rather than formatting a Slack message that’s grammatically correct, friendly, and approachable.”

The interns I spoke with had varied responses when asked about the impact of their work settings on their productivity. While Martin doesn’t feel that being remote would have hampered his progress or made him less effective, Su appreciates an office setting as a way of quickly resolving issues and getting “unblocked” while coding.

Chalstrom thinks that if she were in an office, she’d be getting more done compared to working from home. “Maybe there are moments when you’re sitting at home and you get distracted and you’re like, oh my gosh, I need to water my plants or change the laundry,” says Chalstrom. Likewise, she spoke about how it’s just as easy to keep checking emails and messages after the workday ends, blurring the lines between office life and home life.

3. THERE ARE CERTAIN BENEFITS TO REMOTE INTERNSHIPS

That being said, remote internships can be more inclusive than in-person ones—especially if you can’t afford housing, if the commute is too long, or if you have caregiving responsibilities and other commitments. Finding apartments close to your office, especially in dense urban centers like New York City, can prove nearly impossible, while more spread-out regions require a car, which many interns don’t have.

While Chalstrom was initially nervous about her current remote internship because of the lack of human interaction at her previous ones, she was pleasantly surprised by the supportive culture and community at her company. Along with attending Zoom lunches and virtual cocktail hours, Chalstrom appreciates the flexibility of her schedule, and loves to go on hikes after work.

Yet with her many remote internships, Chalstrom has still never stepped foot into an office, and says she will be looking for an in-person component in her future work.

“I think working remotely can be somewhat isolating, even if your team is amazing—there are some days where I don’t talk to another soul for the 8 hours that I’m locked in,” Chalstrom said. “I am an introvert by nature, but when I think about doing remote work for a full-time position, that’s a little intimidating because that’s a lot of time spent alone.”

Su agrees, praising the hybrid option’s flexibility to choose whether she wants to come into the office or stay at home. “I think it’s best for my personal energy and for being productive. Some days, I just don’t want to see other people and I want to be heads-down. Other times, I do want to be around other people and I feel energized doing so.”

While some aspects of a remote internship—like setting up coffee chats or asking for help—require a lot more intention and initiative, these are qualities that interns should embrace to make the most of any internship experience, no matter their work setting. “I think something that’s so great about being an intern is that you can just be a sponge and a generalist—you can try everything and just soak up all the experiences that are offered to you,” says Gerber.