Wow. I honestly didn’t think I would ever get to have an opportunity to experience an internship in high school.

Well, although I knew a lot of people around me has already gone to summer camps and internships, it still felt like something unreachable to me.  But that didn’t mean I didn’t try my best. I searched up on how to write a cover letter and resume, occasionally finding the sources confusing as I still didn’t understand what is to be added on them. As the deadline drew closer, I decided to just work with the understanding I had about the documents and get on with it.

Xuan Ru’s CV – One of the things I am proud of this year. While making this CV, I was somewhat surprised to find that I was struggling with the content of the CV, not because I had little to write about as I had initially thought so, but because I still had more achievements and experience I wanted to write in it. As I list them down, I begin to see how unique I am in a way and grow some appreciation and respect for myself.

I am also proud to say that I have written 3 separate cover letters to the 3 internships I was applying for. Yes, I’ll admit that there has been some copy-pasting, but I still include and address the different skills and qualities they are looking for. Yes, really proud of these 3 cover letters:

Cover Letter to Cell Research Corp,  Cover Letter to Golden Agri International,  Cover Letter to Sustainable Living Lab Pte. Ltd.

To tell the truth, to me, I had approached this opportunity with an “even-if-you-don’t-get-it-might-as-well-work-hard-and-try” attitude to me because to be frank, I have always thought myself as average due to being surrounded by so many awesome and capable people. So when I first receive an e-mail saying that I have been chosen for a position, I was jumping up and down in joy and surprise.

To me, an internship is an opportunity to experience what they call the real world in a safe environment, enhance my interpersonal skills as well as boost my confidence. To have received this opportunity was amazing for me already. But that didn’t mean I was really willing to let it go, especially when it had unfortunately turned out that the internship that I had applied for was cancelled. But that doesn’t mean that it’s over. Fortunately, there were still somehow other openings available.

So this time, I applied for Dentsu Aegis Network. I know, I did show interest in Sustainable Living Lab before. However, I wanted to try something new and something that I might have never thought of doing – media and advertising. It might be a little too big of a stretch for me, but I think that that’s the way to grow – by pushing ourselves outside of the comfort zone.

Again, somehow I got accepted into the team. And I kind of flubbed my introduction E-mail. [I forgot to ask the questions!!!!] Thankfully, before I had even joined the team, Pear had already asked the questions.

Wow. It feels so surreal to be in an internship like it’s just – wow.

 

But back to reality and more, I guess, important questions for this reflection.

1. What’s my SMART goal?

Specific	To improve my interpersonal skills by asking effective questions
Measurable	It will be measured by how comfortable/confidence I feel, can also be measured by peers’ evaluation
Attainable	Hopefully… I mean 1 week may be too short to build a strong relationship but at least I will be able to gain an insight on how a working environment is
Realistic	I believe so.
Timely	1 week, still longer than 1 day to make an impression that lasts

Specific	To further my understanding of how a media and digital marketing company functions (AKA experiencing the real world)
Measurable	It will be measured by how comfortable/confidence I feel as well as my reflections. Perhaps the number of “Oooos” and “Ahhh” I make too.
Attainable	Hopefully… I mean 1 week may be too short to build a solid foundation on how a company functions (and how the “real world” is), but like what I have done with my CVs and cover letters, make do with my understanding.
Realistic	I’m sure I can do it. Like, come on.
Timely	1 week. It’s more than one day so LET’S DO IT!

When I’m looking back at this summer internship experience, I want to be feeling:
I think I really have grown a lot in this internship. I was actually feeling more confident at myself and spoke out a lot more during the internship.

2. What’re some challenges I may face

Definitely my timidness and lack of confidence. It may feel difficult voicing out my concerns and questions regarding my task but I think I should just push through with it using a motto that I shall recite:
It’s a learning experience. It’s only one week. GET ON WITH IT!

3. What’s some evidence I can collect to document my experiences.

Blogging every day about the internship would be a great idea since it’s only 5 days, but I’m not sure whether I would be resilient enough to keep it going throughout the internship…

Taking photos would be great, but I’m scared that I would accidentally share out confidential materials since I will be under the Media team. I’m also worried that if I ask my supervisor, they would view me as insincere for asking for evidence as if this is only for future applications or bothersome as I am pretty sure I would still be unsure after asking them.

Yeah, collecting evidence during the internship would definitely be a challenge for me.

 

But that’s it from me for today regarding my Pre-Summer Internship Reflection.

Let’s hope that it’ll be a meaningful one!