From An Intern's Perspective

Hi, I’m Hana! I’m a graduating student of Singapore Polytechnic’s Diploma in Applied Drama and Psychology course, and I was an intern at Lorna Whiston Speech and Drama from October 2018 until mid-February 2019. It seemed like such a short time, but in that short time, I learned really quite a lot. To preface this, I had no working experience before I started my internship - so you understand the learning curve I had.

In my time here, I learned about the technical side of things; normal working hours, forms to fill in. I also learned about the admin side of things; important numbers (e.g. children signing up), manpower scheduling and the importance of backups, curriculum and its upkeep.

But the most impactful, quintessentially Lorna Whiston thing I learned, is on the social and physical side of things. Initially, I was unsure and very reserved, but with the supportive and social work atmosphere at Lorna Whiston, my confidence grew and allowed me to better interact with my peers and co-workers. Speaking up became more natural to me, and I was more comfortable in sharing ideas.

Assisting in classes has also taught me a lot - from both the teachers and the students. Every teacher had their own distinguishable style of teaching, and it was eye-opening to see how it impacted the students in different ways. From their lessons, it was also gratifying to see the students grow, and observe how they absorbed what they were being taught.

Drama as a medium gives an entire spectrum of possibilities to the skills that can be taught, and it really showed every week – the students improved skills like peer interaction, speaking up, responsibility and more.

It is from this experience that I truly appreciated my time in Lorna Whiston Speech and Drama – it has been a holistic and fulfilling journey.

Hana