Making marketing memorable: Interning with EF Thailand

Kunanya Watcharawasunthara, from Thailand, is currently a student at EF Academy New York and studying the IB. She spent three weeks of her summer vacation as an intern in the marketing department of the Thailand office where she gained some unforgettable experiences and memories: 

After EF Academy students finish their academic year in June, it is time to fly back home for summer break. This is our time to take a break from ten months of pure commitment to studying and doing activities. Some people use this free time to go on vacation, some get themselves ready for college, and some find a job or internship to do – and I was one of them. I contacted EF in my home country long before the break and asked them about the possibility of doing an internship. Fortunately, EF offered me a great opportunity to do an internship and be a part of the marketing team in Thailand for approximately three weeks. It was filled with unforgettable experiences and memories.

The first day of the internship, I started off by hardly knowing how EF works. However, the staff at EF are very kind and helpful; they explained to me all the necessary and significant information I needed to know. Still, the next problem was, “What do we have to do?” The very first task they assigned me was to create a presentation about myself regarding the experiences I have had at EF Academy in the previous year. In my point of view, doing this by myself is more genuine and sincere not only to me but to all those people whom I was going to present it to.

Despite the fact that we have a great number of work that has to be done, the first week passed by so fast. That week, we had to do workshops and information meetings everyday. It was me and Bella, my EF Thai friend, who were helping them to prepare, plan and give a presentation ourselves. In addition to that, we got to go to Chiang-mai, a province in the northern region of Thailand, with Mr. Dorman, an EF Academy teacher on the road, to hold a meeting there. Once again, I found that I was telling about my life at EF Academy and giving people some advice which I enjoyed very much.

After coming back from Chiang-mai, everything was more settled. I learned how to communicate with people, how to plan an event, and even how to speak in a formal (business) way. For the next upcoming event, we had to plan for a pre-departure meeting, design our own distinct EF Thailand t-shirt, arrange a trip for students to the orphanage for volunteer work in order to get to know each other better (and more importantly, to give something back to society). It was fun for me to do all of these things especially when working together with others.

Even though my career at EF has come to an end several weeks ago, I’m still thankful that I got the opportunity to do an internship there. Not only have we strengthened our EF Thailand bond, but also, I got to use business knowledge I learned at school and apply it in real life. In another sense, EF has provided me not only with the theoretical knowledge, but also with practical experiences that will forever stick with me. Furthermore, these experiences will help me a lot in the future, for instance, when I’m applying to college or a company. As a result, I have learned a lot of things from doing an internship; especially how to work in a team, although it was just for three weeks and it was just a minor position. For that reason, I strongly encourage people to go and do something when they have free time like this summer break whether is it a part-time job or an internship, so that you get to use your skills and learn and experience new things firsthand. Last, I would like to use this opportunity to say thank you to EF for offering me this opportunity. It was an incredible experience and totally worth all the efforts I have put into this.