ONE of the fundamental objectives of the internship program is to give young individuals a chance to receive training, learn new skills, and gain necessary job experience. After completing my third year of college and upon entering my fourth year, nearly closing the gap to graduate, I started with the question, “Paano kaya itong internship? Ano ba dapat ko gawin?” At first, I was confused, unsure how to start the process and where to ask since the setup slowly changed from online to face-to-face. Parents and other adults close to us tell us that an internship can heighten our awareness of community issues, motivate us to create opportunities, embrace new ideas, and give direction to positive change. Some may be excited or are still deciding on their actions, but how do you get there? Well, fellow Bedans, there will be many processes. Remember that every journey begins with a single step.

Be aware of your time

There are several hundred hours that need to be completed at an internship before graduating. You can’t move further until the internship coordinator gives you the approval because your hours may not be counted as what you’ve accumulated already. Understanding the time and knowing where to pull and push when necessary changes occur are the keys to timing the appropriate tempo. 

It’s hard when you’re chasing the clock to graduate on time and have to do your other subjects simultaneously. It takes work to find a Host Training Establishment (HTE). Now you need to decide and be clear about when to start. Go, and look out for your target HTE now. Call them to see if they are open to receiving an internship; if yes, prepare the needed requirements. It would help if you had plans A, B, or more HTE options. You have to be aware of the pacing of your internship so, in the end, you won’t mess with the time, or you will be in trouble because you’re running out of time. It’s challenging to find an HTE to join. However, if you want to finish the internship quickly, you need to pick the one that will be the simplest for you to learn. Moreover, this is the time to grow. Get out of your comfort zone and start exploring to gain more experience. To have a solid foundation when you venture out, you must be aware of your current level of competence in your profession.

Connect Yourself

Be prepared to express what you need and wish to clarify. Link your thoughts through communication to maintain a connection. You must be open and stay connected at the start of your internship. Be prepared to ask when and where to navigate the necessary files to start the process. Be on the guard of what you need to process, collect, and get approved because there will be a lot of printing there and printing here and also much asking of “Nandyan na ba si sir/ma’am?” for signatories. I know it sounds so hassling, but much patience and perseverance are needed to finish the processed papers.

It will be challenging given how many documents you will be required to print and double-check to ensure they had been authorized beforehand because they need to be signed as soon as possible. In the midst, it’s better to have an accountability buddy to check with you for physical and mental support.

Don’t settle for mediocracy

To decide where you can develop, you must first understand yourself. Choose what you know, where you can learn and add to your experience, and be pleased to declare that you can and know something instead of settling because your buddies are there or to accomplish the task more quickly. 

The internship is like chess; it is up to you what pieces and moves you want. But one thing for sure is that when you’re pursuing something for your future on your own, you need to build good connections with people who can give you emotional and physical support when things get overwhelming. While taking my internship, I learned that I don’t always need to win or work harder in crucial times but work smarter. We need to put ourselves where we can learn more. Please tell your younger self to be proud of your future self by putting something on your experience that you could be proud of.