“All right, I’ll see y’all when school starts again!”
My first semester of polytechnic had sadly but finally come to an end. For two months I would no longer be spending my afternoons eating acai bowls with friends or mugging away at my assignments.
Instead, I would be on my term break, without the burdens of school on my mind. But this newfound freedom came with newfound worries too.
What am I going to do with all this free time?
Just as I was floating in my pool of worries at home, my mother chided in with a daunting, yet intriguing suggestion.
“Hey, how about you come and intern at my company’s marketing communications team? As a volunteer, of course.”
Heya! I’m Ethan, a 17-year-old Mass Communication student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and I’m interning at Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM), voluntarily.
I know what you’re thinking. “2 months of a voluntary internship? Surely not…” Little did I know that despite not earning a single cent, this internship would change not only my habit of gaming away my afternoons, but me as a person entirely.
Not your typical office
Fast forward a few weeks, and there I was. A fresh polytechnic student on his way to the office where he would be spending his semester break at. Where do I start with the number of things that were on his mind?
Are they going to think I’m some little kid? What if I can’t handle the workload I get? What if the pantry food tastes bad?
As I stepped foot into the office, I braced myself to be met with cold stares, smirks and the monotonous drone of office chatter. But to my surprise, I was instead faced with a large sign that warmly welcomed me at my table.
This certainly wasn’t the scenario I had painted in my mind’s eye during my anxious bus ride. And if that wasn’t surprising enough, my new co-workers began to eagerly welcome me with snacks and warm smiles. Like a snail coming out from its shell, I sheepishly but happily embraced their warm gestures as I settled down at my desk.
No wonder they’re called the Singapore Kindness Movement.
There’s always a possible in impossible
Not long after my pleasant whirlwind of a welcome, my internship supervisors, Karun and Xin Yi, sat me down and got to know my expectations of what learnings I could gain from my two months with SKM, as well as my abilities and skills as a polytechnic student.
To be frank, given my lack of experience compared to the other interns, I wasn’t expecting the biggest involvement in the marketing team’s operations.
If anything, I thought I’d solely be on observation duty, happily sitting in my comfort zone as I watched the team go about their tasks. I mean, what could a polytechnic freshman do in an experienced marketing team?
But boy was I wrong about that.
Just 2 weeks into my internship, alongside the team’s assistant manager, Sophia, I was tasked with handling the very website you’re reading this article from, The Pride.
Now, I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t overwhelmed by the very thought of it. With the other events I was involved in, such as film coverage for events and ideation for marketing campaigns, it almost felt a little overwhelming
But before my worries and doubts got the best of me, I recalled the very first conversation I had with Karun, his words echoing through my mind as I stared blankly at my now-filled to-do list.
“What I want in this team is a certain standard and mindset. No matter what you face in this internship, I believe that you can make whatever challenges you face that seem impossible, possible.”
Call it cliche, but his words and the rest of the team’s hardworking spirit spurred me on to do things I never thought I could do. I truly was inspired to be greater.
A different kind of person
Before I knew it, I was doing all the things pre-internship Ethan could only dream of doing. From managing The Pride with a newfound confidence to producing videos and being part of shoots for campaigns, I really had defied my own expectations.
Not to mention the TikTok antics we partook in and the occasional cracking of dad jokes, these interns and supervisors have changed what I perceive a team as.
It’s not just a group of people who attend meetings or edit documents together, but one that supports one another beyond the workplace as well. If it weren’t for their support and guidance, I never would have mustered the courage to step out of my comfort zone within SKM.
They weren’t just my colleagues; they had become my friends and mentors too.
So, take it from me, whether you’re in the midst of your internship journey or you’re just starting out like me, take that leap of faith and give it your best shot. You’ll never know what personal limits you’ll surpass and what kind of people you’ll meet.
Who knows if that internship or job will change who you are as a person for the better? There’s only one way to find out.