Yale-NUS students intern overseas during their semester break

The past semester break was a busy time for Yale-NUS students, with many pursuing internships to gain valuable industry knowledge and work experience. Some even travelled abroad for their internships, going out of their comfort zone to pursue roles such as business development in Cambodia or arts marketing in Thailand.

Ashvine Naray Pandian (Class of 2025) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Image provided by Ashvine.

Taking a leap into the unknown, Ashvine Naray Pandian (Class of 2025) applied for the Centre for International & Professional Experience’s (CIPE) Mystery Internship. These internships challenge students to learn how to adjust quickly to new circumstances, hone their spirit of adaptability while learning outside their comfort zones. To keep the element of mystery, students are not told about the nature and location of their internship when they apply. After being shortlisted, Ashvine attended an interview with CIPE’s programme manager to discuss his aspirations, motivations, and areas where he hoped to be challenged. It was close to the date of the internship start date that he found out he would be going to Phnom Penh for his internship as a Business Development Intern.

“I was appointed as a Business Development Intern for Malongo Coffee as part of Confluences Asia,” he shared. Malongo is one of France’s biggest coffee retailers and are prevalent in the Cambodian market due to the country’s large French presence. “The business presence in Cambodia shrank during COVID-19 and right now they are trying to scale it back up again,” he added.

Working in a non-Singaporean company was something that Ashvine had never experienced before. “There, I got to work with mainly local Cambodians and French people.

The approach to work there is quite refreshing from Singapore’s sometimes fast-paced lifestyle,” he said. Additionally, he also spent his time exploring Cambodia and learning about the country’s food, culture, and history.

The internship helped Ashvine develop soft skills such as networking and time management. “Leaving Phnom Penh with these new skills helped give me an edge for my future career,” he said.

Ultimately, Ashvine was glad to have had the chance to be thrown into the deep end with his internship. “From past experiences, I feel that most of a job’s learning is done whilst doing it, so there’s no better way to learn something new than by taking that leap,” he added.

Justin Tan (Class of 2025) in Bangkok, Thailand. Image provided by Justin.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Justin Tan (Class of 2025) went to Bangkok to work with Creative Migration, an international arts organisation led by women-of-colour and based in Los Angeles and Bangkok, on a CIPE-coordinated internship. The organisation established Bangkok 1899, a cultural and civic hub in the city, regularly hosts artist residencies, exhibitions, and public events.

“As a Communications Intern, I supported Creative Migration’s programmes through areas such as social media outreach, managing public relations or picking up basic web design,” he shared. “It was eye-opening to see how an organisation from Los Angeles localised and fine-tuned their marketing approach for a local context,” he added.

He initially applied for the role due to his interest in learning more about how art spaces could be curated to decrease the barriers to entry and make art experiences more accessible.

“This overseas internship struck me as a unique opportunity,” he said. Furthermore, Justin was excited about working abroad and being able to immerse himself in a vibrant arts scene in Bangkok.

One of his most memorable experiences was helping to plan and execute the marketing campaign for Francisco López, a world-renowned audio artist and experimental musician. “The experience taught me a great deal about the gears that turn behind the scenes when we see artists putting up their work for us to enjoy. The organisers and artists need to trust in each other’s work to make things work to bring cool experiences to their audiences,” he explained.

Justin’s time at Creative Migration helped him deepen his professional interests, gain essential industry experience, and better understand how arts marketing works. On top of that, a key takeaway for Justin was the growth he gained from putting himself in a new environment. “I was able to become more comfortable with exploring unfamiliar things and growing from these experiences,” he added.

Besides Ashvine and Justin, some students did internships in other areas like international development and non-profit work. Watch this space for our next internship story.