Hi all, i am rather new to this so pardon me if i make any :/ 'mistakes'.
I am SO grateful to be able to find not only a suitable but awesome work placement at the City of Stirling. When i first started, i felt like a sore lonely only Asian (Singapore) out of hundreds of other experienced Australians. "What if i can't catch their accent?" "What if i can't keep up with the work pace?" "What if i am looked down upon?" We international students (well, at least me) find it at times, hard to blend in afterall birds of the same feather flock together. So, on the very first day of work, i tried my best to establish myself as an English speaking, relatively competent student. Hey, no harm done there, it paid off too because many many people are surprised that English is Singaporeans' first language.
After a somewhat extensive talk about myself in a bid to motivate myself out of a possible anticipated panic/anxiety attack, i was thrown into work and boy was it a whole lot of work. Three media releases, three speeches, couple of newsletters articles. I think i activated panic button myself, HOW JOLYN, how is it possible to get everything done within an hour with no background information whatsoever. I looked over at the community newspapers sitting on my table (they were all so kind and i had my own work table with one of those cushioned office chairs, there was food too-bunches of grapes on the table and snicker bars in a jar), i thought to myself: Its high time i get myself equipped with Perth, especially news revolving Stirling in general. At that point of time, god i thank my PR tutors Jennifer cornwell and Ali welburn. Thank you for all the skills. Then i set to work. Good thing too, because i was working on a tight timeline and all the skills i've learnt over the past two years in Curtin ALL came to my rescue. I followed my instinct, did up the first couple of speeches for the Mayor of Stirling and walked over to my management head- a sweet preppy lady by the name of Simone. I think i was holding my breath so hard i got a tummy ache. "Please, please please, please please let this be right."
Simone said: "Excellent work Jolyn, its perfect, needs no editing." I swear i inched in closer for a better listen. "REALLY?!?!?!??!?!?" Simone laughed. (: My tummy ache disappeared instantly.
Now, the speech i wrote is being used as a template for all other similar other speeches. :D
I felt a little better, it's not so bad for a newbie on her first day!
I think i was humming quite loudly when i went back to my work, made a few phone calls, wrote many emails (the internal emailing system is so efficient and useful, everyone replies almost instantly), managed to source out all the info i needed for the rest of my work and then basically, i sat on my comfy chair and did up all the rest of my work, stopping only occasionally to sneak-listen to what everyone else around me were talking about (: Such a lovely, happy and positive environment, conversations carry on through work about food, baby cravings, event outcomes (recent summerarts festival) etc. For the first time in a very long time, i felt right at home in a very foreign place.
With regards to the work i was given, i guess management needed to access my capabilities, but i am extremely grateful they gave me quite some work to do despite having absolutely no clue about what i can give or i might just be lying about my writing abilities? Needless to say, like every other student on placement, i know i gave my 120 per cent and i was striving to prove myself capable, who knows, they might even hire me after placement and that would be................................i would be..................i would go crazy with joy. Its my last semester now and my visa will expire soon and i wish to stay and i know a job related to my degree is the best option for me to secure an extended visa, so for now, i am still going to give my 120per cent, skype with my folks back home in sg more and share with them all my wonderful experiences, hear them laugh and i know, hey, everything is truly worthwhile and that everything jolyn, will be okay. (:
Looking forward to my next few weeks with the council.
5 comments:
Hey Jolyn ,this is great! I agree about the difficulty or the fear of international students to fit in with Australians but the way you handled your first day is very motivational. Adapt or die I’m tempted to say.
Although you got a lot of things to do, you handled it very well and according to you did very well also, so congratulation on going through your fears and performing…. Career building material!
How do you do your time management? And how would you describe your relationship with your colleagues?
All the best for your remaining days and continue to enjoy it!
Cheers
Thanks Adeline (: hmm, i don't even remember looking at the time much because truth is, i was more concerned about getting all the information right and making sure the right stuff were published. I just wrote without stopping, i figured i can't go any faster than writing without stopping and just basically, trust my gut "i think this sounds right" so less self doubting and no lunch helped me through. If i were to encounter such a situation (with alot of work due in a short period of time) i will still attack those more important/urgent/high on priority list ones and subsequently do the rest. (: My colleagues are awesome, they helped me alot, sometimes i fear approaching them because i was worried i might annoy them? But you know, they are truly a wonderful bunch who will literally chase me off for lunch/breaks and share fashion websites with me haha the perks of being in the company of many females with the same passion haha. (: They are really nice and helpful, in a nutshell, they made work environment so much more easier for me to adapt and we do get along very well (:
Joyln - congratulations!
You needn't feel 'inadequate' against us Aussies. I think it is so brave of international students to come to Australia, leaving their friends and family behind, to study for a better life in a foreign country. I cannot even imagine having to do this.
You should be so proud of yourself and your achievements, all you need to do is believe in yourself.
Enjoy the rest of your placement, I'm sure you will.
-Carmen
Thanks Carmen (: really appreciate hearing that from you (:
-Jolyn
Hey Jolyn!
You know what, you should not have been scared of not getting your English right because it is perfect!! Congratulations on getting the speech perfectly I knew you would do well.
Looking forward to reading your other posts! I had fun reading it, you're funny! Have fun Jo!
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