Internship Experience by Hugh Izaac of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna

One of my favorite memories at Gardenia is how I have stepped out of my shell and learnt the real world. I found tabulation tasks particularly useful, especially those related to construction and fabrication, as they honed my attention to detail and analytical skills, despite it being challenging.

Although the work can exhaust me, those moments where I accomplish a hard task and realize how what I do supports the team remind me of what I am meant to be doing. I also acknowledge the help of my mentor, who helped me learn and had fun while doing it. Having the opportunity to see how much I have progressed and feel at ease with doing things that would have once terrified me, is rewarding in itself. All I needed was for someone to take a chance on me and knowing that it was still possible for me to grow, learn, and change as a professional is all I needed to know that I was on the right path.   

This internship at Gardenia has absolutely enhanced my self-confidence in a working environment. I was initially worried about slipping up on some of my tasks and I worked a lot with tabulation and cost analysis, so I was particularly wary of needing correction, but I grew accustomed to the tasks over time. The learning of how to work with Oracle, calling suppliers and managing data proved to me that I can adapt to new challenges. Whether it was I stepping out of my comfort zone and doing the projects which I had initially thought to be tough or someone guiding me through it, my life has changed since then. Having my mentor’s support and the team appreciate my work encouraged me to believe in my capabilities. The ability to execute tasks on my own and the acknowledgment of my efforts with tangible progress brought me a step closer to being a suitable candidate for a future career. Overall, this internship taught me to have faith in myself and my capacity to excel in an office environment.