Memoirs of a Tanglin intern

I’ve been at Tanglin since Year 9, and it’s been a wonderful journey that recently concluded with my internship with the school’s Marcomm team. Since I was planning to study media and communications at university, I had asked Ms Zoe Williams (Head of Careers & University Counselling) if she knew of any internships in communications I could do. She suggested Tanglin’s Marcomms team, so I applied and the rest, as they say, is history.

Unexpected lessons

Before I started my internship, I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t know what to expect, but all that dread was for nothing because I met some of the loveliest people who led me through one of the best experiences I ever had. During my first week, I familiarised myself with the responsibilities of each team member and I realised that each role was like a gear in a clock that worked together in sync to make Tanglin tick. To be frank, in the beginning, I hadn’t perceived these roles as particularly significant from a student’s perspective, but I now know better. I also spent the first and second week running around the school trying different things such as photography, attending meetings, discussing the annual appeal, and even shadowing a school tour.

Challenges along the way

In the meantime, I was put in charge of a project where I was to create a Christmas playlist consisting of songs chosen by teachers across the school. This was when I realised that there were a few loops to jump through before a project gets the green light. I had to do my research on the legal aspects and confirm whether it was permissible to share it with a wider audience. Once I shared my findings with my supervisor and got the all-clear from him, I provided the teachers with a form to gather a list of Christmas songs for the playlist. Initially, the idea was to create a separate playlist for each school. However, once we received people’s suggested songs, I instead consolidated them into a single playlist that was shared with the Tanglin community before Christmas break.

Memorable moments

Another job I had was helping with the school's Christmas fair. It was something I looked forward to as I loved it when I was a student. The vendors came in to set up their booths the evening before the fair and it was a completely new experience for me because I hadn’t interacted with people outside of Tanglin before this. This introduced a few challenges I hadn’t encountered earlier in my internship as I found myself dealing with members of the public who weren’t as accommodating as the school staff. On that evening, we ran into some complications, and I found myself having to make some quick decisions on the spot as well as enhance my communication skills – something that I hadn’t extensively developed during my internship until then. Although this was the most hectic part of my internship, it enabled me to gain a deeper appreciation for the Events team and better understand the extensive planning and efforts that go into running a school event.

In retrospect

Overall, my internship was a very pleasant experience. I loved how it perfectly aligns with my university course so I was able to find out more about what I would be studying. Funnily enough, even though I didn't finalise my decision for my major before this internship, it helped me decide that I enjoy working with people and made me comfortable with my choice of choosing Communications and Media. This internship also gave me a newfound appreciation for all the members of staff who work behind the scenes and don't always get the credit that they should. As students, we never know how much work go on outside of our learning and it was fascinating to see it in person. 

“It was great to have Gina’s support in the run up to one of school’s largest events and having her behind the scenes as she worked on a multitude of small tasks and contributed to the overall success of the event!”

- Jenny Aylen, Friends of Tanglin Executive

“Having Gina around brought back memories of my own work experience days! She was a great addition to the team, and I was always impressed with her composure and confidence when sharing her point of view in meetings, and her ability to confidently tackle so many diverse tasks being thrown at her. I liked the way she drew on her comms experience from her days as a Tanglin student, such as organising the Leavers’ Ball and coordinating the student yearbook, she was able to share her learnings and experience and apply them effectively in her work experience.”

- Amy Anderson, Content Marketer