Electrical Engineering: Automation and the future of work in Southeast Asia

An Internship that Brought a lot of Happiness During a Tough Time My internship through ABROADER was truly a worthwhile experience. Not only did I genuinely enjoy the work I did for my host organization, but having ABROADER's support and community really enhanced my remote internship. Having weekly culture sessions and buddy chats, and getting to talk regularly to the ABROADER staff and local buddies, made me feel like I was actually in Vietnam. I think this aspect of their program is really unique, because it makes doing an internship in a brand new place much less intimidating; everyone is so friendly and welcoming, I never felt alone when navigating this new adventure. I genuinely feel that I was able to connect with people and make new friends despite being thousands of miles away. What was your funniest moment? With the culture sessions and buddy chats, there were a lot of fun, happy moments. I think I laughed the hardest when making a video with a fellow intern and two local buddies for ABROADER's farewell group session. We tried creating a parody to Grease's Summer Nights, but being that none of us are musically talented, and we had to deal with the lag from Zoom when singing all together, our finished product was quite chaotic. Regardless, it was a lot of fun to work on all together, and seeing our video at the session gave me a really great laugh.

The 5 months spent in Vietnam was not only enjoyable but also felt enriching. I have become many times more independent than before and thoroughly enjoyed working at Vinmec General International Hospital- A conducive and enjoyable workplace for those interested in a career in Healthcare.

I realize that the key to develop yourself is to improve your competence in a whole new environment, and coming to Vietnam for an internship accomplished what I came for. I came here because I wanted to have more confidence to speak up my mind in front of other people and it is hard to accomplish these when you are still in your comfort zone.

Overall the people have exceeded my expectations, and they are really what’s going to help make my experience in Vietnam a great one. I’ve always loved leaving my country (the US) and having new experience, so I wanted to do an internship abroad. Having already spent a semester in Europe, I wanted something really different. My mom was born in Saigon and lived there before coming to the United States with her family. So I felt like a good way to get in touch with my culture and my roots would be to spend three months living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In my internship in Vietnam, I have helped with various marketing efforts by giving ideas or designing things. I have learned that, of course, there is a different way of doing business here compared to the United States. Things are run differently, there’s a different office culture, there are just always many cultural differences to keep in mind when doing business in a different country, and Vietnam has not been an exception. The people ABROADER have set me up with have been beyond wonderful. Coming to Vietnam on my own seemed very daunting and intimidating, but ABROADER has helped make the transition smooth and seamless. They helped take care of everything I would need during my time here and have gone above and beyond to assure that things continue to go smoothly. I am very appreciative of their support, and it makes the whole thing a little less scary. My local buddies have been so helpful for everything, and I really feel like they are becoming genuine friends. I am generally pretty shy, so it was nice to have friends before even arriving to help introduce me to more people and get me out there. Overall the people have exceeded my expectations, and they are really what’s going to help make my experience in Vietnam a great one.