In the words of Yunjeong Choi,

3rd Incheon-Hong Kong International East Asian-Australasian Black-faced Spoonbill Conservation Cooperation Forum © EAAFP Secretariat

"Learning various languages requires an understanding of the cultural background of the language. As I major in French from high school and get to know classmates majoring in other languages, my strong interest in working in different regions and with colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds grew. And as I double majored in Public Administration in university, I also wanted to practice my knowledge of governmental organizations and expected to gain insights into various types of organizations. My personal interest in zero waste movement and animal rights also made me apply for the job at EAAFP.

When I started my internship here, I expected to improve my language and communication skills as well as my working abilities. After 6 long months as Programme Assistant, I would like to say I had an opportunity to widen and deepen my knowledge of how international organizations work, as well as to continue my willingness to environmentalism and animal rights. This internship truly was a great opportunity to train myself and learn what I wanted to contribute to the greater good of humankind.

During the 6 months internship period in the EAAFP, I mainly worked in support of various events in which the Secretariat participated and coordinated international forums as well as programs. Even though I experienced coordination of events before, the scale of the event and amazing enthusiasm from the staff made me learn a lot about the overall operation of the projects.

Suncheon Bay © Yunjeong Choi

One of the most important things I have learned from the internship is understanding. At a glance, some of my works do not seem consecutive and coherent. It rather seems like a series of separate things from separate categories. However, as you continue to do the tasks, you will be able to figure out the overall process and understand how the overall process proceeds. Repeating this procedure for 6 months really helped me to interpret how certain things take place in the procedure, and what my duties are.

As the Programme Team works jointly with other teams a lot, I was able to work with almost all the members of the Secretariat and got help from everyone. During the process, I learned how to communicate with different people and how to manage the work in each other’s ways. This method really helped me learn various ways to deal with work I have never done and improved my communication skills.

With my understanding and knowledge of my tasks and the overall operation, I became able to understand the mechanism of international organizations and how they operate. All the staff here are very confident about their projects and what they made. Their dedication and enthusiasm towards migratory waterbirds conservation really touched me and made me continue my efforts for nature conservation. All the efforts of the EAAFP Secretariat staff would truly bring a difference to humankind and their perceptions and further to the earth. The 6 months I spent here improved me to be a better worker as well as a better person. "