Kaplan Aspect Perth (IV)

Hi all,

Just posting up the last entry for my internship at Kaplan Aspect! :)

Week 4, 17th August 09

My last day at Kaplan Aspect was a surprisingly busy one. Being unable to head down to work everyday since semester 2 started, I really had my work cut out and waiting for me on the final day of my internship. As it was going to be the last time that I would be doing any more work for Kaplan, I really wanted to perform my duties to the best of my abilities and leave the company and my boss on a good note. The things that needed to be completed before I left were: the creation of a full-colour A3 size scoreboard to keep track of the current leaders of Kaplan Aspect's 'Masterchef' students, 2 informational brochures advertising Kaplan Aspect's new courses, 1 visual based newsletter for a recent Kaplan excursion to Kakulas Bros; which is a huge wholesale shop selling exotic Mediterranean and Continental food, as well as create a personalised 'Thank You' card for Kakulas Bros, the kind sponsor for our excursion to their awesome gourmet and speciality food shop located in the heart of Northbridge.

As expected, I was under a tremendous amount of stress trying to finish all of the above mentioned by the end of the day. Also, I am a bit of a stickler for detail, so I really wanted everything to be absolutely perfect before giving it to my boss. Thank goodness it all worked out well and I even managed to surprise myself by getting all the work done by 5pm that day! My boss (Julianne) was really sweet; before I left for the day she bought me a little muffin and wished me the best of luck in my future endeavors... and told me that I could call her anytime if I ever needed anything! :) This truly touched me and I'm ever so grateful for having such a wonderful mentor and boss during the course of my internship. The 20 days that I spent at Kaplan Aspect were very meaningful to me and definitely counts as one great life experience that I'll remember and cherish for a long long time. :)

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reflection

Before I began my internship, I was a little apprehensive about it as I've never worked in a professional environment before and did not have any prior knowledge of the corporate world. Looking back, I now find it a little funny how I was so worried about my interview that I practically lost sleep over it! I think that PR 393 has really helped to prepare me for the working world; I am no longer afraid of going for interviews since I now know what to expect as well as what is expected of me. I can safely say that I have more self-confidence now; after working in an environment and country so completely different to the one I grew up in (Asia), I definitely think that I am ready to face the corporate world head on after I graduate and move back home. :) Being around so many students from all over the world has been the best part of it all - I love getting to know different kinds of people as well as learning about the many cultures and languages that they bring along. Most importantly, working in an international organisation has taught me how to be more understanding and tolerant of so many things that I've never given much thought to before. :)

I hope all of you have enjoyed your internships as much as I did! Best of luck to those who are still in the midst of it! Thanks for reading my reflections :)


Claire Heng

Curtin University Bentley