Internship Experience - Raffles Girls' School

Written by Hazel Tan, Guan Ziyue, and Ng Yennzy

from Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)

In the course of the past two weeks during the June Holidays, we have had the opportunity to intern under Make The Change and our experience has been nothing but fulfilling. To enter the office and meet great supervisors, friendly peers and a soft hot pink sofa was more than we could have ever asked for.

During our internship, we had the chance to learn and develop a diverse set of skills, including Wix, Procreate, AR Makr, Clips and more! Together with the visual literacy workshop we attended, we discovered new ways to express ourselves.

The first thing we were tasked with was to sort out Padlet creations by both primary and secondary school students, under the New Media programme by MTC. This allowed us to gain exposure to the sheer number of people that MTC reaches out to. However, as we began to delve deeper into how the organisation functions, we quickly realised that schools were merely the tip of the iceberg. MTC’s extensive efforts to make a difference in the lives of countless individuals were inspiring, and left us in awe of their commitment and dedication to empowering others.

Paying it forward, we also had the chance to help facilitate a workshop for children aged 7-12 at IMDA’s Bring your Kids to Work Day. We had a lot of fun interacting with the children, and assisting them with Clips and AR MAKR to create their own virtual zoo. We also learnt more about classroom management by observing how our supervisors carried out the session.

We also had the opportunity to attend the online graduation ceremony of the refugee beneficiaries of M.A.D School’s job readiness creative programme. Throughout the ceremony, there was a constant outpour of gratitude in the chat, as the beneficiaries thanked the trainers for their support throughout the programme, which made us realise that we had to appreciate the finer things in life. It made our hearts full and we better understood how a single programme could make a huge, lasting difference in someone else’s life. Seeing the tremendous impact this programme had on the beneficiaries, we are inspired to make a difference in someone else’s lives too.

Over the two weeks, we also aided MTC’s outreach efforts in various ways. We wrote articles summing up the Social Innovation Hackathon and IMDA workshop, coupled with Instagram posts on MTC’s Instagram. We created a promotional video for Younite, posting this on both @younite.sg on Instagram and @makethechangesg on Tik Tok. We also assisted MTC by updating their website and more!

Overall, interning at Make The Change has shown us how a social enterprise functions and the potential each and everyone of us has to create positive change in the community and beyond. This multifaceted programme has pushed us to develop our critical thinking and acted as a safe space for us to explore our interests, which is something we are very thankful for.

We are extremely grateful for this opportunity that has proven to be a memorable one. We couldn’t have asked for a more meaningful way to spend our June holidays. As they always say, once a changemaker, always a changemaker!