Rockstar Intern: Micaela Tam
A blog by Micaela Tam
When asked to write an article detailing my internship experience at Asia P3 Hub, I immediately agreed, thinking that it would be easy writing about what a wonderful experience I had. However, it’s actually been quite difficult — how can I convey that essentially everything about the bustling routine of Asia P3 Hub, from Monday morning meetings to designing a digital marketing strategy, have impacted my perspective, my thinking-process, and my aspirations.
I applied to intern at Asia P3 Hub because I thought I could put to use my academic knowledge and wanted to observe the workings of groups committed to social impact. As a student of International Relations, I frequently come across case studies of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and/or private companies trying to resolve increasingly complex and transboundary problems. With that singled-minded drive to achieve the highest impact, opinions of the local community are forgotten or take a secondary role. Humility is not a characteristic I have often seen. However, Asia P3 Hub has proven my skepticism wrong and has taught me to think in a different manner. I have learned to understand real world problems and then apply them to my studies. Asia P3 Hub’s philosophy and team demonstrate a simple but invaluable lesson: instead of working from theories and one-size-fits-all processes, individuals from all sectors must first understand what exactly the problem is in the first place and work from there. Much of the process centers on listening first.
Such an environment provided an excellent ground for me to develop both personally and professionally. My experience with Asia P3 Hub was one of many firsts: my first internship, my first digital marketing campaign, my first time working in such a diverse team, my first time networking with such a wide community of individuals from NGOs, businesses, start-ups, etc. I was afforded much flexibility and room to conduct my own work, participate in meetings, and put forth my own opinions and ideas. During my time at Asia P3 Hub, I came to realize the true meaning of teamwork — recognition of individual talent and giving space for each individual, even interns, to contribute uniquely to the team.
Asia P3 Hub is a place where the distinction between interns and the professional full-time team is hardly felt. It’s been 5 months since my internship ended, yet I still feel very much a part of the “family”. The fact that our team consists of a dynamic array of nationalities, ages, professional, and disciplinary backgrounds united by shared goals and values mirrors Asia P3 Hub’s mission to foster unconventional partnerships and combinatorial innovation through multi-sector partnerships. It’s rare to see such a pronounced alignment of core values and work culture.
I still miss greeting Phearak with “sok sabay te” (Khmer for “how are you”) every morning, the mixed Mandarin-English chatter of Si Hui and Wayne, the sage Cantonese life-advice of Dot. I miss editing articles with Christy, sending sheepish messages asking for help to the always-reliable Ysel, meetings with advisors, shopping with David, marvelling at the amount of Japanese pork curry Brendan could eat. I hope you all continue to redefine what is possible in your own ways. Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of the team.
FUN FACT:
Micaela was the brain behind our social media campaigns in 2018, such as the All-Rounder series and Patterns of Innovation. They are all great reads, do check them out!
