The Concluding Chapter.

Elena sent me an email the other day that goes something like this:

"Thank you for helping out today, Yahui, what shall I do next year when you will be gone?"

It made me tear up. Just because I'll miss Elena and Valia, and also the email made me realise how little time I have left in New Zealand.

That also means my internship is drawing to an end. It's really funny how I'm supposed to do evaluations on my performance and whatnot even when I haven't been through the actual event yet. Oh well, it's all bureaucracy, and to satiate the insatiable appetite for paperworks that this program is so fond of! (Mind you don't take marks off for being honest, you wanted me to be critical, Internship program)


So what have I learnt throughout my internship?

I have learnt that publicity is not achieved through getting the largest amount of people possible, but rather learning how to tailor publicity to suit the needs of the target audience.

I have learnt that I'm so accustomed to dealing with Kiwis (which I'm so immensely proud my ego might just explode) that I am close to shedding my old ways of dealing people to make way for the Kiwi way. Which is good, but not very good as well. Good because my dad's sinister plan of chucking me into a faraway land to learn how to be survive in different settings has worked. Not very good because I'm a Chinese! I'm supposed to be fast, snappy, get right down to business, be fast and effective, and be super efficient! Cut all the wishy-washy greetings and get things DONE. Well, in the end I did, but with a Kiwi touch. So all is well.

I learnt that having past work experience has helped me tremendously. Having all those administrative and secretarial experience (even if it's for my evil big brother) has helped bolster the shock of having to deal with the internship work. Writing up paperwork was a breeze - letters? No big deal. I get the touch just right, just becaue I have prior work experience. And I'm immensely happy because the tasks that I once thought were mundane has actually helped me in my current work. Of course, I have to adapt here and there to suit the Kiwi way of doing things. Also, what sets my current work experience apart from my past one is the fact that I get to correspond with people myself without going through a boss. Yes, I need to report to Elena and she has the say in final decisions, but the correspondence with people, I do it myself. That was a privilege that I couldn't do in my previous job, and it's refreshing that I get such access now.

I learnt the art of dealing with people from the very best. The chance to observe Scott at work was an invaluable lesson that taught me something I have never quite achieved - the confidence and ease he had when dealing with people. Although I would like to achieve the same standards that he exude, I think accomplishing this throughout the span of one internship is impossible - as such I will continue to develop and grow my communication skills and always have Scott in mind as a role model.

And most of all, I learnt the art of adapting to survive. Work environments are usually dynamic. Act fast or get lost! Once you are confronted with a change in situation, bam! you need to make decisions fast and not muck around at the change. I also learnt the greater art of adapting faces in the workplace. Even if you are dissatisfied, you don't write it all over your face. You need to be diplomatic and careful when dealing with colleagues.

Speaking of colleagues, I can't help but to rave at how much I love them. They are the greatest bunch of I'll ever have the chance to meet. They were easy to work with, they were great listeners, they were firm on the fact that study comes first (a privilege I would never get if I work with a business outside), they were understanding. They were FUN, and made my time there enjoyable.


That sums up what I've learnt so far. Please don't tell me I'll be marked down if I don't give a detailed account on how I dealt with that nasty bug in Microsoft Word that nearly ruined my entire workflow! The internship program has so many clauses printed in so many pages I am afraid I might violate any of them. *Shudders*

So what do I have to say about the internship program?

Well, the other day Valia taught me a very interesting theory, called the Pendulum theory. She said that both sides of the extreme must be met before the pendulum will settle down into a balanced middle.

I would like to write this concluding chapter by praising how well the internship program has been executed. But unfortunately, the pendulum of the internship program has swung to the far end of being overly loaded with paperwork and overly invasive of study time. My own personal pendulum (work placement) granted by Elena, which I have endless gratitude for, has allowed me to strike a balance between gaining work experience and studies. I can't say the same about other students, who skive off classes just to get the hours accomplished. Why bother studying then? Honestly, I don't really care for the students (the third-years I'm with are selfish and arrogant and never made my time at Unitec a pleasant one, thank god for the first and second year students who are more down-to-earth) in the internship program. but what made me voice this is my sympathy for the lecturers who constantly have to deal with students running off halfway through class, or worse of all, face a half empty class during lessons (sorry Valia long sentence but I can't help it). Yes, the programme leaders and head of department said it's a matter of time management on the student's side, but why study when you are dropping lessons for work? It beats the core purpose. It should never work that way.

And I still can't shake off the look of horror when I suggseted an alternative way of executing the program - asking Kiwis to work on the summer or weekends are almost like sentencing them to death - they will protest and say no and complain. Okay fine. Cram the internship into a semester, and you all still complain. I don't know what to say.

Yahui wonders, when will the Unitec internship program pendulum swing and gradually rest in the middle? I look forward to that day, but unfortunately am not blessed to experience it sitting in the middle.

But so far, it'll do.

*Looks at the Learning Outcomes paperwork, ticks boxes*

So yeah, I guess that's it. Valia, you're probably bored of this, but thank you for your time and effort in making this internship a valuable learning experience for me. Thank you for reading all the rambles I had throughout my time as an intern, and thanks for the academic support that you provided even when it's not your responsibility. You really touched my heart with that. The Chinese might be fast and snappy, but we are certainly a grateful bunch. :)

Thank you.The internship paperwork might be coming to an end, but for me, this is just the beginning of a new chapter in my life...