News Article

Students find internships challenging, rewarding


3/16/2001 11:24:54 AM


Garry Glass (second from left) and Michael Nobel (right) are working in India.


Laura Wareham with Dr. Park at the Colombo Plan Staff College in Manila, Philippines.

March 16, 2001 - When Jill Miles enrolled in the three-year Environmental Technology program at College of the North Atlantic’s Corner Brook campus she never dreamed it would take her half-way around the world.

A native of St. Teresa’s, a tiny community of about 100 on the west coast of Newfoundland, Miles experienced mild culture shock when she moved to Corner Brook, a city of nearly 25,000.

But imagine the culture shock she had when she got off the plane in Chengdu, China, the world’s most populated country with more than one billion people!

Miles is doing an international internship through the college working on a project called Energy Management Systems in the Chinese province of Sichuan.

She learned of the opportunity to work in the Far East after Elizabeth Chaulk, job-coordinator at the Corner Brook campus, told her of the overseas internship.

“I was overwhelmed and applied right away – without hesitation,” she says.

“I felt an overseas experience would be life changing, and it has been so far.”

Part of Miles’ job is simply to experience the Chinese culture and take part in their cultural activities, but she also teaches English to Grade 7 and 8 students and takes part in Kung Fu classes.

“When I first stepped off the plane I didn’t know what to think,” she says.

“There was so much pollution that it was difficult to breath. I thought ‘what did I get myself into?’ I knew there were going to be many difficulties and many obstacles that I would have to overcome.”

That was January 14 and now, more than two months later, Miles says her impressions have changed dramatically.

“I have come to like this place very much. I have made many good friends and I think the friendships will last forever. The people are so nice and generous, they try to make you fit in as much as possible and they do everything to help you. And the pollution problem, I have gotten used to it.”

But it’s not only the friendships which are of value to Miles.
“I have learned many things from this experience,” she says.
“I have changed my way of thinking completely. I realize how many things we, as Canadians, take for granted.”


PHILIPPINES
Laura Wareham is from Corner Brook and also did the Environmental Technology program.

Chaulk also told her of the chance to work abroad.

“The Environmental Technology program requires me to have three work terms and I already have two internationally!” says Wareham.

“My first work term was in Costa Rica with Canada World Youth and the Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador. I was so lucky to get a second one here in the Philippines!”

Wareham is working at the Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education (CPSC) preparing a report as to how the institute can incorporate environmental initiatives to comply with their quality manual and obtain ISO 9001 certification.

“I have just finished conducting a Green Audit and will be basing all of my recommendations on that,” she says.

“In the future I will also be creating an environmental module that CPSC will be able to use in future Technical Education Training programs. In addition, I have just completed a Quality Management System Course titled: Internal Quality Auditing taught by CPSC’s auditors. I have been really busy, but I like the challenge.”

Wareham was also in for quite the culture shock when she first set foot in the Philippines.

“My first impressions were ‘my God this place is huge!’,” she says.
“CPSC is located right in Manila with a population of more than 10 million! Lots of people and lots of shopping.”

The Corner Brook native says she likes to spend her spare time hunting for bargains at the Mega Mall – and yes, she says it’s as big as it sounds.

“The shopping is great, but I have also learned so much since coming here – it’s hard to put into words. Just to be able to experience a different country is fantastic. I get an international view on important issues such as the environment, culture and so on. I would love to work internationally again and would definitely come back to the Philippines if I had the opportunity.”
INDIA

Gary Glass of Torbay and Michael Nobel of St. John’s (originally from Nipper’s Harbour) are both in their second year of the three-year Programmer Analyst (Co-op) program at the Prince Philip Drive campus in St. John’s.

They are also both doing an international work-term at the Periyar Maniammai College of Technology for Women in Vallam, India.

“We learned of the opportunity through our regular co-op meeting with the staff at the International Office,” says Glass.

“I immediately put my name in as a candidate. I knew it would be the chance of a lifetime and a great learning experience also.”

Nobel concurs.

“We were told the India project was in the development stages, but they weren’t sure if it was going to get approval at that time,” he says.

“Interested students needed to sign up right away and I was pretty much there from the start. Gary and me were the only two who stuck with the process. We even sacrificed possible work-terms in Scotland to go to India. It was a major gamble, but it paid off in the end.”

For their work-terms Glass and Nobel are doing website design, database design, student tutoring, lectures and research.

“We are doing a lot of work for the International Workshop on Environment and Energy being hosted by the College of Technology for Women in September,” Nobel says.

As with many students who do international work-terms, Glass and Nobel were not sure what to expect in India.

“I was really tired after the long trip,” says Nobel.

“When I got here the first thing I said to myself was ‘What have you gotten yourself into?’ Things are quite different here than at home and it took me a while to get used to it.”

“I came over prepared for the worst,” says Glass.

“But I found some of the stories I had heard before coming here were a little exaggerated. It is a heavily populated country and the population is very concentrated in some areas so pollution is a big problem. But for the most part, you take it all in stride.”

“I thought the food was going to be hard to get used to,” says Nobel.

“But I like a lot of what they serve here, especially Chicken 65 – it’s sort of like fast food chicken. And I like the Indian version of French fries called finger chips.”

They say the people in India are also very nice (Nobel says they have been treated like kings), and the climate is very warm.

“The weather is getting warmer as we approach summer. Most afternoons now seem too hot to spend outside, but I’m still glad I’m not home facing all that snow!” says Nobel.

Both say they have learned a lot about the Indian culture and lifestyle and how their views differ greatly on things such as marriage, family life and classes of people. They too also say, after seeing how most people live over there, Canadians take they own way of life for granted.

“I would like to return here one day,” says Nobel.

“I have made a lot of good friends and it will be hard to say good-bye. But there are also many things which I miss back home – my family and friends, TV and high speed internet!”

All the work-term students say they would like to express their thanks to the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, the Canada International Development Association, and the International and Co-op Offices of College of the North Atlantic for making these experiences possible.

Listing of Students on International Internships
Various Pictures from International Internships(Warning: Some of these photos are fairly large, please allow the page to load fully.)