Feature: Internship 2ONEs of Batch 2021: SSH

5/21/2021 06:00:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

UPIS Grade 12 students undergo a two-week off-campus internship program as part of the school's senior high school curriculum. This year, students of Batch 2021 got a chance to work with different internship sites━UP offices and private companies━from March 1-14, 2021 via Zoom and other social media platforms.

Get ready because in this article, we are about to explore the Batch 2021 Social Sciences and Humanities Track (SSH) internship sites:

More than being just a training unit for law students, the Ateneo Human Rights Center also serves as an assistance center for victims of human rights violations. Its advocacy is to make legal services more accessible to the public as it works towards upholding the democracy and the rule of law in the Philippines.

Kathleen Cortez was one of the students assigned to AHRC for her internship. Her experience was met with internet connection problems, but this did not stop her from learning. She shared that she picked up many important lessons on human rights, especially after preparing social media posts in celebration of International Women’s Day—which she revealed to be her favorite activity.

“While researching for notable women both in the past [and] in the present, I realized that celebrating International Women's Day is not just all about women, but it also serves as a reminder for all of us that gender doesn't matter if you want to change the world,” Kathleen reflected.

Moreover, she realized the power of senior high school students like her in promoting human rights—that merely using their social media accounts would come a long way in spreading awareness. The AHRC was also able to give her the opportunity to learn the skill of communicating effectively.

The program surely left her with valuable life skills. But most importantly, it provided her with useful experiences in educating others on human rights.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent office in the government of the Philippines. It promotes and protects human rights and makes sure that any government actions, projects, and implementations don’t violate them. This is why the student interns described CHR as “the conscience of the government.”

Eloisa Dufourt said she enjoyed every meeting they had. It was interesting for her to hear everyone and to listen to how the CHR promotional office works. Although she had to be on standby for most of the day to make sure that she would be ready whenever a meeting is called, Eloisa learned how to manage her time. Some of the projects from the program were time-bound, so she should make progress with her tasks every day. It was important that no time be wasted in order to meet the deadlines, she added.

By the end of the internship program, Eloisa had a lot of realizations and learned a lot of lessons but one thing she'll always remember is what their division chief told them: “Human rights existed even before, and in fact, our heroes fought for it.” This made her realize to more deeply value not only our heroes, but our human rights as well.

The Interactive Children’s Literacy Program invites less fortunate children to learn with the purpose of honing their literacy skills. Its goal is to bridge the literacy gap among urban poor children from the economically-challenged communities of Loyola Heights in Katipunan.

Having been able to work for ICLiP, Pamela Marquez had fun making learning materials for the children since it called for her creativity. As an intern, she employed multiple lessons that came in varied teaching formats, but considered writing and reading with the kids her favourite. She also said that the writing and reading session was very comfortable and each child was focused on, so it felt like she was hanging out with them.

Pamela had her fair share of difficulties during the program. Internet connectivity issues sometimes caused her and her co-interns’ video sessions to be delayed and blurry so these led to miscommunication and the incapability of some children to participate in lessons.

One of Pamela’s personal concerns was wondering if the children were learning from her teaching.

Patience, working under pressure, and time management are some of the skills that she was able to practice during the internship. She was able to deal with mishaps with the guidance of Mrs. Julie Weygan-Aparato, the head of the program. The children also played a big part in keeping things positive and light for her.

The Interactive Learning Center Diliman manages the online learning management system of the university and also promotes the production and use of interactive instructional materials. It is under the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) and aims to help in the development of faculty expertise in the use of technologies in teaching and learning.

Liane Bachini said that their two-week internship program was a great experience. She was able to learn several lessons by the end of it.

On the first day of the program, Liane stated that she and the other interns shared the same problem: they had trouble managing their nerves. Being uncertain about their expectations led them to overthink. As the days went by, however, they were able to adjust with the help of their internship supervisor.

Though she faced challenges, she enjoyed creating their two main requirements with her partner━a feature article and a storyboard and script━to promote ILCD’s program to students who are interested in becoming interns.

Liane said that the program taught them to work and cooperate with other people. She realized that she did not have to be nervous about working with others. Lastly, she mentioned how thankful she was to have been assigned to her internship site.

“Even though we became comfortable, we still learned to be professional while working and we made sure to have good time management skills,” she remarked.

M&P Creatives is an agency that specializes in video production, branded campaigns, and digital content. It empowers and helps brands grow through creative communications solutions. It was founded by media practitioners Macky and Paula Macapagal. They bravely started as a small home-based wedding and events coverage team in 2013.

Magan Basilio was one of the students who had a chance to get into M&P Creatives. She said that she enjoyed everything about the internship from day one. Pitching and presenting ideas were her most favorite activities out of all that they did, because she always enjoys creating PowerPoint presentations and discussing creative ideas with others.

However, she also encountered some difficulties during the program.

“Time constraints made finishing the assigned tasks a bit difficult. But it’s okay because we were able to learn from each experience and still create outstanding art cards, videos, and decks from our idea,” Magan shared.

She added that their outputs could have been improved if they’d gotten the chance to use the equipment from the production studio. But the pandemic has other plans. She said that even though they were not able to visit their studio, she still had fun creating their projects.

M&P Creatives taught Magan about the technicalities of media production and the importance of being a great team player. She was thankful to have a group full of talented artists from UPIS and CIIT Philippines who each had their own specialty ranging from digital art to video editing.

“I have always been fond of visual arts; however, working with them enabled me to do more than just lurking around Photoshop and shooting with my camera. I was able to become a leader,” Magan shared.

Spearheading discussions and assuring that each member had a say in their group’s decisions were her proudest contributions to this internship.

The internship program has ended, and the interns said that they were thankful, satisfied, and happy about the whole experience. They were able to show their creativity in the activities and had fun while working. Even though some had internet connectivity issues and felt the limitations of the learning setup, they emphasized that they are still genuinely interested in the subject matter and eager to learn new things.

Also, because of the program, they were able to educate people through social media by spreading awareness and posting informative videos and postcards. They were also able to help children to learn to read and write, and help business brands by creating commercial videos. // by Danzar Dellomas, Sophia Luangco, and Gabie Santiago