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#173 Internship @ TheFARM Singapore
Tuesday 12 August 2014



I decided to do this entry today because I don't want to delay it any further. Just finished packing my luggage for my HK get-away this week and I've a packed day tomorrow catching up with friends before they fly off for exchange. Can't believe school's starting next week, where did my summer go?! Okay, I'm kidding. All things considered, this is my most productive and fruitful summer of my university life. I've made new friends, reconnected with old ones, completed my overseas community service project and wrapped my internship. 1 more year of studies and I'm ready to graduate. Feels surreal; feels like only yesterday, I was a young boy complaining about not being able to grow up fast enough, and here I am, on the final stretch of my educational journey (yes, I know we never stop learning etc. but you get the point I'm trying to make).

Right, enough reminiscing. This entry is supposed to document my 2.5 months experience interning at TheFARM Singapore. I remember feeling extremely relieved when I was finally offered a position. I assumed it was because they had problems finding other interns and I got the job by default, ha-ha (I later found out they actually rejected a few interns). To be fair, I was offered another internship at a different company, but I turned that down because I had already accepted TheFARM's offer.

So, I went in for 2 days of unpaid work to sort of orientate myself a little (before my OCSP trip). Turns out I am currently the only intern who has ever done that, ha-ha. Guess I didn't know how to say no. I was still unsure of what my job responsibilities were exactly, just that my title was a Community Management Intern. This made adjusting to working life difficult in the beginning. I wasn't sure what was supposed to be my responsibilities and what were supposed to be the other intern(s) responsibilities. Admittedly, I got annoyed at times for being delegated more work, as well as being the only intern that had to do administrative work. I recognise that interns will ultimately be assigned administrative work no matter what. But it pissed me off that I was the only one being targeted to do it. Oh and yes, I'm used to having dinner with my family almost every day (and we eat very early - 1800H), so the working hours and location of the office definitely added to the difficulty of adjusting to working life.

The chunk of text above summarises all that was going on in my mind at the point in time. Of course, I didn't verbalise any of this because I constantly reminded myself to be grateful for having this opportunity and that I should focus on being appreciative rather than whining. However, I think some of my resentment eventually translated into my working behaviour. Fortunately, I managed to turn things around and got a better handle on things a month into the job. I finally just told myself that all the work I was being given was because I was capable enough to do it and I should take it all in my stride and treat it as a learning experience no matter what.

Overall, I'm proud of what I've accomplished during this brief stint of working life. The struggles at the start were good, it was an eye-opener that I'd rather have as an intern than a full-time staff. I learnt quite a bit about myself - that I'm more resistant to change than I thought. This is something I'll need to work on. I've also learnt I'm quite calm under pressure and I can think quick on my toes. My boss mentioned that I've a superb eye for attention to detail, ha-ha. I'd like to think that both my supervisor and boss are happy with the work that I've done. There's so much more that I've learnt on this internship experience that I couldn't possibly fit into this small space. I guess at the end of the day, what I'm trying to express is how thankful I am for being given such an opportunity and this is just my way of trying to document the memory of feeling appreciative.

XOXO, T.

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written at 23:01