Internship: What it’s like to work at EAAFP

Heather Le, Intern

As the end of my last semeCrane Birdwatchingster at Yonsei University loomed closer, the frequency of my freak-out episodes also became higher. What do I want to do? What do I enjoy doing and want to keep doing for the rest of my life? How do I support myself? Will Leonardo DiCaprio ever get an Oscar? All the big questions I expected myself to have answers for by then still remained unresolved. I felt completely lost, which is what most graduating students struggle with at that transitional period, but that doesn’t mean the problem is any lighter for any of us…

I accidentally found a job posting from EAAFP while wandering on the wonderful journey of job application. It caught my attention because it offers an international working environment, and a wide variety of responsibilities interns can be in charge of. As I was not sure what I wanted to do, I was looking to try different new things. That is why I took my chances and applied for the internship programme at EAAFP. I got an interview; I was so nervous at the beginning that I babbled…stuff and things. But I remembered the interviewers (my supervisors later on) were so friendly and casual that it really calmed my nerves and I was able to talk like a normal person for the rest of the interview.

I was supposed to stay longer than I was able to stay, but expectably it is never a pleasure dealing with immigration office in any country. Yet my supervisor was very understanding and still gave me the opportunity. During my stay, besides new insights into how the organization operates, it’s working together with people at the office that made my internship valuable. I had a peek at how people work and resolve issues with each other, how the job and task are passed down and completed, basically how people from different backgrounds work together. Before coming here, I actually mentally prepared myself for a competitive and pressuring environment, but people here are so nice and willing to share and to teach. They helped me so much along the way, some more than others, but they all did.

I’m not sayingHeather.Le EAAFP is a magical place where I came in all lost and confused and came out a new person who had finally found a purpose in life. What it did is it gave me an opportunity to experience new things, gain new skills, to meet and learn from new people. And an opportunity is all I need. I still have a long way to go, but I know that whatever I will be doing in the future, EAAFP has a part in getting me there!

 

From the Secretariat: Heather translated EAAFP’s website into Vietnamese. Please visit our newly opened Vietnamese Page!

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