Wednesday, February 22, 2006

New Thoughts

As a post graduate student from the Graduate School for the Humanities and Social Sciences, who has just completed a Masters degree in Forced Migration Studies I feel relieved but scared at the same time. I say this because when one is in an academic environment, you get to a point where most of the activities you do in a day become routine.

Preparing to enter the World of Work has led me to have many thoughts. Having to be at work everyday where there are so many challenges and so many people grappling to survive and achieve organisation’s goals is something that I have to face head on as from now. Things like deadlines to meet, resources to consider and prioritizing budgets. I am suddenly confronted with the fact that I have to move from the solitary to the social networking human being I am expected to be when I get into the industry. I suddenly wonder what kind of community I am going to make for myself. At the same time ensuring that in all these relationships professionalism has to take centre stage. How do I network with the relevant people from within the organisation and those outside the organisation? I feel that effective networking with the right people is good as one can get positive ideas and dialogue about different topics. Later good working professional relationships and positive energy can flow from good networking.

There is also the major issue about embracing people from various cultural backgrounds and being able to appreciate and recognize difference. Not that it has been a problem given that our university is so diverse. This will be different in that here at university I was not obliged to engage with people from different backgrounds. A work environment would be different and attitude assumes critical currency. All in all I recognise that growing from a student to a professional demands hard work and flexibility and one has to be on one’s toes all the time. One has to have the ability to be flexible enough to embrace change and show a willingness to learn in order to find a place in this constantly evolving global world.

I want to create a professional identity and be a beacon of light for everyone in the particular industry I will be working in. Being an intern is very exciting and scary at the same time. On the one hand it is flattering. On the other everyone in my department will be paying particular focus and attention on me and my work. I want to be able to handle criticism/feedback well. This is important as it will help me with my professional voice. I expect that after my internship I will have moved from anxiety to a state where I will appreciate my capabilities and specific growth areas. A willingness to work hard and my desire to excel in everything I do are key attributes to being successful.