My Virtual Internship Experience with Think Pacific by Jenny Park
My Virtual Internship Experience with Think Pacific
Hello! I am a geography student at the University of St Andrews and last summer I completed an 8-week internship with Think Pacific. I came across the internship online a few weeks after the UK went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was excited by the opportunity to contribute to local Fijian organizations in this challenging time whilst staying at home. I enjoyed and benefited from this experience greatly and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Fijian culture, develop new skills and contribute to fantastic Fijian local organizations.
5 Benefits of this Virtual Internship
- Development of Transferable Skills: ranging from goal setting to website design.
- Environmentally friendly: contribute without having to fly to Fiji.
- Develop contacts: with mentors, guest speakers and fellow interns.
- Learning: about Fiji’s history, its challenges and its projects.
- Contribution: complete action project for an inspiring Fijian organization.
What I did?
Throughout the internship there were several meetings to attend each week. These included overviews of what activities were scheduled for the week, cultural sessions where I learnt about traditions and skills central to Fijian culture (including learning a Fijian Meke Dance and the basics of Fijian language!) and guest speaker events. I found the guest speakers hugely inspiring and in particular I enjoyed the talks by a coral farmer in Fiji, and the chief executive of the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement.
The first part of the internship is focused on learning which I think is vital for any contribution to be beneficial to the Fijian organisations. The material provided was fascinating and accessible and I learnt about topics such as Fijian history, environment, sports, mental health and international development. As a geography student who is interested in both human and environmental issues, I found it especially rewarding having access to information on such a broad range of issues currently facing Fiji.
With the support of my mentor Harry, I then decided on one of the many action projects available and worked independently to complete this. I chose to produce a series of infographics about gender-based violence in Fiji for Femlink Pacific who are a Fijian Feminist media organization. My action project enabled me to develop a range of new skills such as visual communication, research and virtual communication which have since come in useful and have been developed further at university. Since submitting the project, Femlink Pacific have used infographics on their social media and have sent me a letter of gratitude, and I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to their goals.
The virtual internship is an opportunity to contribute ideas, knowledge and resources to one of the Fijian organizations which Think Pacific are working with. My experience with Femlink Pacific (as with other organizations I am sure) was that they are a determined and ambitious organization who put their heart into mitigating the vital issues facing Fijian women. However, they have limited resources and time and therefore having virtual interns providing ideas and material is hugely beneficial for them and their goals.
Overall, I found the virtual internship to be a hugely rewarding and enjoyable experience which contributes to vitally important organizations in Fiji and I would recommend it highly!