Architecture Intern at Sustainable Building Firm

The study tour was a fantastic program full of cultural and fun experiences in both Vietnam and Singapore. Before the trip both of these places had been on my travel list, so when the opportunity for this trip came up I couldn't say no and I'm so glad that I did it. The buddies, the people I travelled with and the organisers made the trip even better. Industries in both countries were super helpful and our visits to these factories was one of the highlights. Networking with these companies, the food, cultural exposure, the people and the organisers made it a beautiful way to study our university course!! The most unfamiliar food that I tried was definitely chicken feet! Sugar cane drinks were also unusual but they tasted awesome! Thank you!!!!

During my environmental engineering internship at my host company, I have learned a great deal of practical knowledge and skills that I hadn’t been taught in schools before, in particular my design skills have been improved a lot. My supervisor and coworkers gave me very helpful support and guidance which is what I expected to have in an internship, although I wish I was more freedom to explore and do independent work. Adding to the experience, I got to go on a field trip to Hai Duong in 2 weeks while I was an intern. It was a valuable experience for me because I was able to travel and see the different practices in a smaller city of Hai Duong compared to Hanoi, I of course made new friends and had a little peak into the local life of people outside the busy capital.

I had a blast with the remote internship with ABROADER. The cultural sessions were exciting and informative of the way of life in Vietnam. What made this unique for me was the staffs engagement with me and the other students. I liked getting to talk about the differences in cultures and similarities. The staff was always excited to see me and liked talking about my interests as well. I really liked the food cultural sessions and the opportunity to make Vietnamese food in my own home. I think any future participant would like this program if they wanted something outside their comfort zone. It was an entirely different world from the US to Vietnam and I enjoyed every second of it. What was your funniest moment? The funniest moment was when I was caught laughing at a video during a cultural meeting. The video was a music video and had hilarious content and I got called out because the host of the meeting saw me laughing. I thought this was not just funny because the video but also because the hosts were glad I was enjoying the cultural session.

I feel pretty satisfied with my internship journey as it increased my self confidence and my ability to cope with unfamiliar situations. It also further developed my interpersonal communication skills when working with co-colleagues. I did my internship in Chemizol/Culligan Water Vietnam under the supervision and guidance of Chris, who is a very nice person and always cares about me. Besides that, my internship in Vietnam has expanded my curiosity of the world and at the same time gained a greater understanding of my home cultural identity. I wish I could have more time to go to different factories so that I could contact customers and analyze samples. Overall, my 6-week internship is so great!

I learn a lot about how to work in a fast pace environment, and how to organize competing priorities, as I am often given multiple tasks to work on. Working in a small office with young, motivated people is a great experience, because they know how to work really hard, while still having fun together. My internship is with an education service provider that connects Vietnamese students with opportunities to study abroad. It is a small office, and I work in both Marketing and Partner Relations. I write a lot of PR articles about studying in North America, school profiles and upcoming events. I am also working to expand their partnerships, particularly in my home country of Canada, and am connecting with universities and colleges there to discuss how we can work together. During education fairs I talk directly with students who are potential clients. I share my experiences and answer their questions about life abroad.