Internship at AIESEC Malaysia: My superpowers at work!
About the Author: Supradeep from B.V.Raju Institute of Technology, someone who never left his home for any trip, interned at AIESEC Malaysia. He shares with us some of the life lessons he learned while using his superpowers!
It all started in October 2013 when one of my professors read about AIESEC in a newspaper advertisement. Soon, he informed me about the opportunity. I, then, researched about the organization on the web and met with an AIESECer, who then explained to me about the organization and the internship opportunities they had to offer. I chose to intern at Malaysia because everything was under the budget. Then, there was an interview with a team member of AIESEC in Malaysia. She asked me some basic questions about me, my background, my interest in the internship, and the most interesting question she asked was “What kind of superpowers would you like to have?” Puzzled by the question, I answered that I’d be interested in having a superpower wherein I could give people what they want such as happiness, health, etc. She was so delighted with my answer that within two days, I received a call about my selection for an internship at Sanathana Dharma Ashram, an orphanage at Sitiawan, Malaysia where I had to teach children of different age groups subjects like English and Maths.
I successfully landed in Malaysia. Upon my arrival, I realized that most people at the airport faced difficulty communicating in English. I had to show them signs of how much money the SIM card should be recharged with and to inquire about the directions. I took the last bus from the airport to Kuala Lumpur where the students had been waiting for my arrival. Being a vegetarian in Malaysia, I faced major issues with food. Most of the food was non-vegetarian, and the vegetarian food only included Dal and boiled vegetables. I had to make do with what I had. We do not always get what we are comfortable with; sometimes, we have to move out of our comfort zones and experience things as they are.
Next day, I boarded a bus and reached Sitiawan where I met the members of AIESEC team. The head who was running the orphanage was not available the day I arrived. I observed that the children stared at me in a strange way as I was an outsider. Being an introvert, I couldn’t initiate a conversation with anyone, and I sat in my room and cried as I felt lonely. Next day, the head of the orphanage arrived, and I felt extremely happy to talk to him. That night, we had a meeting with all the children, and the head announced that I’d be teaching everyone English from the next day.
I had downloaded many links to have an interactive learning session; however, I was shocked when I came to know that there was no availability of internet in the orphanage. I didn’t have any idea how to teach the children; however, I took this as a challenge and designed a few games, tests, and modules for different age groups to get them interested in learning. We had a game where people had to look at some objects and name them. Sometimes, I’d ask the children to translate sentences from their native language to English and help them improve. The games, tests, and modules were working, and people were improving a lot. Moreover, they were enjoying what they were doing. Slowly, the children started to develop a great relationship with me.
I saw a great teacher and human being in the head of the orphanage. Once, a kid did something mischievous, but instead of scolding the child, the head explained to him and convinced him against such mischief so beautifully that he did not repeat it again. Surprised, when I asked him about it, he answered that sometimes we have to accept people the way they are because we cannot always change them, and if we try to, we’ll only end up losing our peace of mind. He also educated the children about the different situations they were going to face in life.
On the last day of the internship, the children treated me as a chief guest and performed a drama and a dance. We danced together, sang together, ate together, and had a lot of fun, but they were so attached to me that they were unable to leave me.
This internship was regarding education, but it taught me how to initiate something, and run it successfully by taking feedback, and having reviews periodically. It taught me how to simultaneously work and have fun. Every situation in our life becomes a lesson when we are willing to observe and learn. Every internship is valuable regardless of the internship duration, stipend, or the company one works for.
Doors are always open; we just have to find them, and explore ways to new beginnings.
Do you also have Supradeeps’s superpowers? Don’t hold back; use your superpowers today, and fly to these International internships.
Editor’s note – If you also have an interesting story to share, you can now participate in Your Internship Story Contest 2017 and win cash prizes and goodies worth INR 1 Lac!
