By This article holds the individual reflections of 3 interns, Thai Son, Alexi and Peng Zheng, during their 3 week intership at Design Prodigy, and the collection of their thoughts at the end.
Thai Son’s Reflection
Hello readers. Fret not, at this moment I am writing this by myself and not through ChatGPT, although I planned initially to, given my chronic laziness. Looking back, I managed to learn much more than I expected myself to ever learn in 3 weeks.
Honestly speaking, and I already shared this with my mentor Mr Marc, I saw this as an opportunity, just not much to learn and more to boost my portfolio. I came in fully prepared to run around doing errands like stapling documents, filing and printing stuff. I mean there isn’t much to give a JC1 student to do, and the 3 week duration did not help with our depressing lack of understanding for B2B marketing and AI and Automation, which were what Design Prodigy focused on. However, as I figured my way in the dark with my friends under Mr Marc guidance, I was able to hone my thinking and structure my ideas better, which was not something I usually get to do. It definitely helps that Mr Marc could provide us with his view, which we could examine to improve our work, and my two friends were more than willing to help test the numerous ideas that popped off the top of my head.
As we tried more to come up with the ‘answer’ to our initial hypothesis to ‘Do more with less’, I get to learn more about the AI systems like ChatGPT and DALL-E, how to use them to my benefit, and also how to think, which surprises me, that I didn’t really think of how to think before. I also learn more about myself, both my limitations and my strengths, and for that I have to thank my JC for arranging the internship program, and Mr Marc and Design Prodigy for willingly taking in a blurred student and teaching him how to do things.
This journey made me more humble and more willing to learn, which is crucial in a world where AI will just get better, and allow me to view things in a more objective manner. While I do value our work, because we spend days working on it, I also understand a huge portion of it comes down to simply being lucky, for we were at the right place at the right time, with the right people and the right skills. That does not mean that I’m not grateful, nonetheless, and I want to thank Mr Marc again and personally for giving me this opportunity, and go out of his way to support us in our journey, despite his hectic work (which we see first hand). From this experience, I have a rough idea of what I want to do in the future, which is something that bothers me for quite a while now, and somehow this 3 weeks give me the answer just like that.
Alexi’s Reflection
At first I was a little sceptical about the internship, given that what I was told I was going to do did not seem like what I was good at (something that required a lot of creativity → something I lack). However, I looked at it as a learning opportunity, to help myself grow as a person and a thinker.
The first day on the job did not really alleviate my fears, as Mr Marc spoke a lot about developing excellent talents who were capable of producing outstanding results from projects in the past. I did not believe that I fit the bill here. I didn’t even have a clue about what B2B stood for (let alone what it was about), so when he told us that our aim was to help cut costs in the B2B industry by using AI, which made me start to panic internally. However, after 2-3 days of researching, I started to get more comfortable with the topic and what I was doing. I really enjoyed being able to brainstorm with my fellow interns and come up with novel ideas, while experimenting with something that many individuals would probably never have the opportunity to. My excitement only began to increase when we learnt about ChatGPT, a tool which even the biggest names in the world were raving about. I really felt a sense of pride when we were able to manipulate it to do what we wanted.
Overall from this internship, I feel that I have really learnt a lot. Aside from all of the AI tools like ClosersCopy, ChatGPT, MidJourney and DALL-E, I also learnt other skills from my time here. Things like being resourceful by being able to get the information I need from online, being responsible by planning my schedule and getting work done on time, and being able to work well in a team. One really big thing I have learnt is that ideas can’t always come on command. Sometimes, the best ideas really come spontaneously, or appear after bouncing another idea around until it evolves into something workable.
I really want to thank Mr Marc for taking us in as his interns. Throughout the entire internship period, he has always been very friendly and approachable, and I could tell that he really wanted to help develop us and allow us to grow. He really seems like such a knowledgeable person, and I have absolutely enjoyed being able to learn all that I have from him. He has really opened up my eyes to the business world, and I really look up to him. I appreciate all of the opportunities he has given us, and all of the resources he provides us with, from articles to blog posts and even linkedin posts. Mr Marc has always been very encouraging and he inspires me to be a better thinker. I hope that someday I would be able to be someone like him.
At the end of the day, I really feel that I took away more from this experience than I could have imagined. If you were to ask me if I would go for an internship like this again, my answer would be an immediate yes. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I will definitely miss my time here in DP, and will be eternally grateful for this wondrous opportunity. It’s safe to say that I will never forget the cosy office on the 4th floor of a shophouse in Boat Quay.
Peng Zheng’s Reflection
I remember searching this place two days prior to the start of the internship. I didn’t think much of the internship except ‘Hey, it’s new, seems fun” and “this place is so far away”, I had trouble finding it as I wasn’t sure of the exact location, given that it was on the top story of a shophouse and was inconspicuous to the human eye. Which was why it really dawned on me how daunting the task that Mr Marc gave us really felt on the first day. When he was talking about our task, which was to do more with less in B2B marketing, I was terrified. Me? B2B? What even is that? I had many worries and uncertainties looking ahead and I was expecting a brutal time. However, after the first week, all of those worries have passed.
With the release of ChatGPT, I was so engrossed in playing around with it that a week had unknowingly passed. In the third week, it was again so much of exploring how to write blogs, memes, inspirational quotes using ChatGPT that I had no room in my head for stress or fear. Before I knew it, I was enjoying myself with the various friends around me that I have made and laughing at our own creations. Hence, what I thought was going to be a tumultuous 3 weeks, went by like a breeze.
Ok, now enough with the recount, time to talk more about feelings. In the middle of the second week, I remember Mr Marc telling us, “your thinking has changed, you guys have evolved”, and he keeps saying it till now. To this day, do I feel it? No. Do I think he’s right? I hope so. Even though the concept of evolution and growth felt so huge and mysterious to me, I had unknowingly, and still don’t know when did this happen. All I simply remembered was the feeling of dissatisfaction while exploring ChatGPT, repeatedly asking myself, how can i make this better?
From these 3 weeks, I’ve learnt that growth happens sporadically and unknowingly, but it is most likely to come knocking on your door while you are in the deepest of thoughts, scouring through the deepest recesses of your mind for a solution. And this are simply just one of the many lessons that I have learnt through this internship. Working through home based learning, coordinating daily work with peers, communicating ideas and so many more, but the single most important thing that I have learnt, undoubtedly, is to not fear progression and growth, to always ask questions that leads to improvements and not be fazed by the stress of growth.
I will be indebted to Mr Marc for these invaluable life lessons, that I will bring with me through life. Finally, I am extremely thankful to Mr Marc, for presenting me with this rare opportunity to learn and grow as a person, whether he intended for it to happen the way it did. I would also like to thank the peers who were alongside and supported me on this ride, who I am confidently able to call as good friends. In this 3 weeks I felt like I have mentally developed 3 years, and took one step closer to the working world. If I were to be given the chance to take this internship, I would definitely do it again, without a seconds delay.
At the start of the internship, Mr Marc asked me what I wanted to be in the internship for. I said I wanted to spice up my holidays. And this internship definitely did
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Here’s a medieval spinoff of our internship experiences, don’t miss it!
