Internship Experience - Bedok Green Secondary & Zhenghua Secondary

Students from Zhenghua Secondary School (Left) and Bedok Green Secondary School (Right)

From 30 October to 3 November, Make The Change warmly welcomed nine interns from two schools, Bedok Green Secondary School and Zhenghua Secondary School! Though it was a short one-week internship, the interns managed to hone many new skills and gained a fruitful experience nonetheless.

For many of our interns, it was their first time being directly involved in a social enterprise, but as they stepped out of their comfort zone, not only were they able to forge new friendships, they also gained fresh perspectives of the world around them.

During the internship, the nine interns had the opportunity to visit a school which offers special education to students with mild Intellectual Disability (MID) and/or mild Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). When faced with a tight deadline to prepare for a workshop at the school, the interns learned to take challenges in their stride and face them well! Moreover, they also shared that interacting with students with special needs while guiding them through the workshop was an undoubtedly meaningful experience.

"Working in a social enterprise with flexible schedules will require facing incoming challenges and dealing with them in short notices." - Qin Yue hao (Bedok Green Secondary)

"...I learnt to communicate effectively with my team members, and to adapt to sudden changes in plans!" - Trina Kee (Zhenghua Secondary)

"During our visit to Metta School as workshop facilitators, I was able to learn more about the students with MID. ...I even got to know more about their school experiences and their plans after graduation! ...One key takeaway was understanding that no one is perfect, and everyone is struggling in their own way, whether we know it or not." - Zhi Lin (Zhenghua Secondary)

"In my five days at MTC, I gained more than just IT skills. The workshop highlighted the underprivileged in society, inspring me to consider ways to help them better." - Adrien Chan (Bedok Green Secondary)

Besides the opportunity and challenge to manage multiple responsibilities while remaining adaptable, our interns also benefited from technical learning experiences, such as helping with design and marketing, writing, and utilising technology throughout the course of their internship journey.

"When I was asked to produce an article, I faced challenges in content creation, but eventually managed it with online research. I also recognised the significance of diligence in tasks that were more detail-oriented. Having been inspired by the resilience of the staff, I truly aspire to emulate their qualities!" - Aloysius Seah (Zhenghua Secondary)

"I learnt that having teamwork matters the most when there are many tasks allocated. I also enjoyed being able to learn the different ways of online marketing." - Farisha (Zhenghua Secondary)

"From this internship experience, I learnt more about the responsibilities of a company when design and marketing is involved. This gave me a broader understanding of the work life in the future." - Jayden (Zhenghua Secondary)

"I was tasked to make slides about how social media reels, posts and stories can help in digital marketing. I have also learnt how to better utilise features on Canva for projects and slide-making." - Yu Hui (Zhenghua Secondary)

"I learned how to use Apple devices and gained valuable insights into the working world as well as what to expect of it." - Jayren Choi (Bedok Green Secondary)

Despite this being a short internship experience, we are grateful for the help provided by all the interns. We hope that your time with us at Make The Change was a fulfilling and memorable one!