16 May Zuleika Szczypka-Fellowes Remote Internship Experience

For several months of this academic year, I took part in the. It was around 120 hours over a total of 12 weeks that aligned perfectly with my studies. For the first four weeks, I took part in the Discovery Phase that focused on getting me acquainted with the Fijian islands, the culture and the people who live there. Alongside this was some information about some of Think Pacific’s current areas of interest such as the environment and community action. A little while later I was matched with my mentor, Faith. It was our meetings together during the Discussion Phase that led me to choose the action project I worked on in my Decide Phase.

“It was the most fun I have had with something ‘academic’ in a long time”

From the start I knew I wanted to dedicate my time on a project that focuses on education but allowed for some creativity. After exploring the many different partners and available project options I settled on Think Pacific’s own ‘Design fun resources, activities and lesson plans about protecting the environment for teachers in Fiji to use’. When speaking to Faith about this potential project, I found myself becoming more excited and thinking up a bunch of ideas for what I could do.

This led to the Design Phase. It was during this 4-week phase where I created the things that contributed to my final batch of resources. I worked on a set of 5 lesson plans with corresponding posters and worksheets and even a short story. When creating these pieces, I spent a lot of time doing extra research and making sure that everything I was putting together was as useful and clear as possible. It was the most fun I have had with something ‘academic’ in a long time.

Not long later I was at the Delivery Phase. I was recording myself showing off my lesson plans and resources, hoping that the people who would watch it would believe that I could make a positive impact with my efforts.