Yes the day has arrived. I have been contemplating about a PR internship for some time, sending out resumes and finally getting a spot. The excitement has been building up for a while now. Now that I am working in a PR firm, it really is very very surreal.
So how has it been?
Honestly, pretty good. And I was really surprised that I found it pretty fun and exciting to be part of this business. At this point, I have been settling in pretty well, enjoying the friendships forged with my colleagues and fellow interns and I have been having a very meaningful time here. On a very very thankful note, I managed to learn quite a bit from media clippings to event listings and sitting in for a client meetings and going for a media drop. A very helpful colleague has also been very patiently teaching me different tasks that she does for some clients although she had a ton of work waiting for her to be completed.
I knew in all this, God's grace was given abundantly to me. I could never have had such good opportunities to learn if not for His wisdom and grace. Thankfully, I followed God's choice and not mine - He sees what I can't and I understood now why this choice was the best. The environment to learn was very conducive. At the end of the 1st day of work, my boss has already told me that she would involve me in some projects and would allow me to get a good feel of how PR is like by the end of my internship. By the third day, I was able to get out of the office to go for my first 'field trip' where I learnt what a media drop is. We went to SPH and sent out little gifts to the journalists. You can't believe the excitement I felt when my boss told my colleague and I that we could follow her for a client meeting and a media drop. I learnt far more than I ever would in a class. I am surprised that one of the lessons that I caught on from my boss was that of humility and genuineness when meeting a client.
In a few days, I have seen the difference in mentality that I have towards this internship from my previous office job experience. I saw myself with a desire to learn and a willingness to ask for more tasks instead of "slacking" or considering the monetary benefits behind this job. Paired along with the desire to learn is the courage to ask my boss and colleagues for jobs and tasks even when they may be busy. I found out that a certain level of challenge is what allows me to enjoy this job so far. This attitude and courage has brought me to learn many lessons just within a span of a week. And I look forward to learning and growing more.
I still remembered that I had huge doubts and fears before going to work. I had a certain impression of what PR is like from what my PR prof has taught me and from different people working in the industry. Looking at how dramatic my semester has been, I was fearful of "difficult times". As a result, unbeknownst to me, the fear swallowed a certain amount of joy that I had for the work in PR and caused me to be more guarded and fearful on my first day at work. I have fallen prey to fear. However, I am very thankful that part of my routine as I go to work is listening to sermons while I am traveling. And that day - the topic of fear and of the strength of God was addressed. I was brought back to memory of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45-50) and the story of the 12 spies where 2 spies Joshua and Caleb were specially mentioned.
In the story of David and Goliath, David killed Goliath is the most unprecedented way possible. "So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him." - 1 Samuel 17:50 And this was only possible because God was at hand:"This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands" - 1 Samuel 17:46a
In the story of the 12 spies, the spies were instructed by Moses to report on the condition of the land that was promised to them. 10 spies returned back with the report saying: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there." -Numbers 13-27-28 And yet Joshua and Caleb were the ones with a different report: "Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”" - Numbers 13:30
In both accounts, I saw God behind them and a great amount of courage that they had in battling their respective giants. By the time Caleb led the Israelites to defeat the Cannanites, he was 85 years old. At 85, he still had the courage to fight for God and for the people of Israelites. I wondered if I have recognised a God greater than my fear and if I have forgotten that I will be fighting each "frightening day" with the power of God. Because you see, David defeated Goliath as a child and as a dwarf in comparison with Goliath because God was behind David. It was God's doing.
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
-2 Tim 1:7
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