Internship Insider: Growing Through Projects, People, and Everything In Between

You know what has been the hardest battle I’ve faced during this internship? It’s the struggle of waking up and preparing two hours or less before my 8 a.m. shift at The Company Cebu. My morning classes are one thing, and facing another early, full-day internship shift is another.
But regardless of these struggles, I still choose to show up. My strategy: after waking up in the morning, I avoid contemplating if I should go to work or not. I immediately grab my towel and toiletries and head to the bathroom.

My journey at The Company Cebu has been a fun experience so far, especially being surrounded by people who are dedicated to quality work and, at the same time, who also value fostering genuine connections and camaraderie. To walk you through the glimpse of my journey here at The Company Cebu, here are some of the highlights that I consider key milestones and memorable moments:

Project Proposal and Presentation

In our second week of staying at the company, the project manager, Miss Joy, briefed us on our major task as interns. One of those is to propose three projects of any kind that would benefit the company’s community and that we, interns, would also implement. We managed to come up with four projects that we were interested in. We meticulously outlined the specifics, which we then presented to Miss Joy. The first project we proposed is a TED Talk-style event featuring empowered women sharing their stories. The second is a donation drive, where we identified charitable institutions that we want to provide with our supposed donations. We also proposed an Olympic-ish project aimed at engaging staff and clients through sports.

Lastly, the fourth project is a podcast one, wherein we wanted to feature staff and clients and have engaging conversations, similar to a Toni Talks setup (if you’re familiar with that), where the aim is just to yap on random topics, anything that is light and fun. Fun fact: we were inspired by a Bisaya YouTube video. The name of the channel is Unsay Cheka sa Parlor. We had watched an episode while waiting for Miss Joy to join the virtual proposal meeting scheduled for us to propose our initial three projects. The last project was really out of the blue.

So far, all the things we proposed have received positive feedback from Miss Joy and we also had an opportunity to sit down with other company staff wherein they gave their guidance to help us finalize our proposal and, at the same time, expressed their intention to be with us along the way in the implementation stage. One key lesson I’ve learned during our consultations, particularly from Miss Alissa and Jessel, is the importance of specificity in project management, which means considering every detail.

That’s why preparation is crucial when launching projects, which entails ensuring that the project is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). Miss Alissa emphasized the “achievable” aspect, urging us to ensure our projects are feasible within the company’s resources. The staff’s guidance were very helpful in narrowing the scope of our proposed projects.
Collaborating with my fellow interns on this endeavor was also fun as well. We were dynamic and engaged during our planning sessions as we made sure that every voice was heard and that we reached a sound consensus. I also appreciated that our meetings felt like casual gatherings among friends while still having that laser focus goal of documenting our ideas into a detailed project proposal paper.

First Front-Desk Hectic Experience

Now, let’s move forward to, I must say, a challenging experience at The Company Cebu that really tests my nerves, which is when I’m assigned to the front desk. I was able to interact with clients and handle inquiries face-to-face or via the company phone.

In my early days of internship, I was accustomed to observing the workflow at the front desk, but handling it myself was really a different animal. One challenging experience occurred when I manned the front desk with Ness. I remember that day; Ness and I were the only interns on duty. All the staff were attending a general meeting at the Mandaue branch, so we had to oversee the front desk. At that time, we were busy receiving phone inquiries about unfamiliar concerns, requiring us to take notes and seek assistance from staff members via the company’s group chat. After getting assistance, we then get back to the callers, providing updates to address their respective concerns.
Yes, it was a tiring day, but still we managed to survive it together—and thanks as well to the meals provided by the company. The food really fueled us that day!

Generosity of the People

You know what’s another thing that I did not expect to experience here? It’s the generosity of people. I have many stories of staff and co-interns sharing their stuff with me. The first one that I can recount is that our marketing supervisor gave us a half-dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts after our shoot for a reel collaboration involving a school organization. We were delighted with the flavors, and some donuts were so pretty we almost hesitated to eat them.

Another instance that I can think of was when Ness offered me a green apple drink at Sugbo Central during lunchtime, which I loved because of its perfect sweet and sour blend. That drink made me love green apples now. That’s why whenever I look for refreshments, I now consider picking that flavor. Just recently also, my co-intern, Ate Pritz, gave me goods from Vietnam. I was thrilled with the gift because there I found Vietnamese goodies! I was captivated by the coconut coffee after trying it the next day.

I’m truly grateful for all these acts of kindness from my colleagues here at The Company Cebu. As someone who isn’t particularly into gift-giving, I now consider giving stuff to people more because I want to give back what I felt, feeling special after receiving any kind of stuff. Because, as they say, it’s the thought that counts!

Conversation with Miss Joy

One aspect of my internship at The Company that I appreciate is the opportunity for casual conversations with our supervisors during downtime. We interns have had many instances where we talked about anything under the sun with Miss Joy. The energy is always great whenever conversations are initiated. I remember one morning when we had some free time, we talked with Miss Joy about films and recommended some classics such as The Great Grand Budapest Hotel and Spotlight.

During the conversation we had, we discovered that Miss Joy’s undergraduate degree was psychology. After that discovery, we then asked plenty of questions related to psychology, which she passionately was able to share her insights on. Our discussion led from one psychology topic to another, but the thing that I really took note of was the one wherein she discussed the concept of locus of control.

She explained that the locus of control refers to the extent to which individuals believe they have control over the events that affect their lives. I learned that there are internal and external loci of control. The former is when you believe your actions and decisions influence your outcomes, while the latter is when you believe external factors like luck or other people have more power over your life. Essentially, it’s about whether you see yourself as the driver or a passenger in your life.
I relate this concept to how I allocate my energy, especially when faced with problems. I believe energy is as valuable as time, so it’s important to focus on what matters and let go of things you can’t control.

For instance, I had a front-desk experience with my co-intern, Ness. We received a call from a client who was very impolite in his inquiries. I assumed something bad had happened before he called, which influenced his tone. The client was somewhat condescending; when Ness didn’t catch what he said due to a choppy line, he immediately slowed his speech in a passive-aggressive manner. Despite this, we ended the conversation well, and the client got the answer to his query.

That incident affected our mood, leaving us feeling down. However, we reminded ourselves that the issue was caused by an external factor—the bad signal. We adopted an out of sight, out of mind mindset and let it pass. In doing so, we practiced a form of locus of control, recognizing external factors as responsible for the problem while believing we had done our best in the situation.

This experience reinforced my belief that in the corporate world, it’s crucial to build mental fortitude by allocating attention wisely. I remind myself that a balanced locus of control is essential in facing challenges, as it serves as an anchor, helping me manage problems with greater discernment.