This narrative study explored the administrative internship experiences of five assistant principals in Alabama for the purpose of better understanding how these school leaders perceived the benefits of Alabama's policy requirement for field experience in their practice. Attention towards this comparatively brief ten-day internship sought to describe the value early career practitioners placed on this experience and to better understand policy implications for instructional leaders. Through individual, semi-structured interviews with assistant principals from rural, suburban, and urban locales, this study asked 1) How do assistant principals describe their professional learning needs and 2) How do assistant principals describe the value of their administrative field experience? Findings show that participants believed practical, building level knowledge and experience was most needed in order to successfully manage their current duties. Those whose school leadership experience was limited to the ten-day internship experience expressed sediments of being underprepared for their position while those who had longer field experiences and additional leadership responsibilities prior to their assistant role, expressed greater confidence in their abilities.