My On-Screen Internship

What a year it’s been, right? I remember feeling so bad for everyone that had to return home halfway through their internship or studies abroad in March 2020.

I figured I was lucky, because by the time I would start my own internship in February 2021, the pandemic would surely be over. Oh, how naïve I was… Little did I know I would become one of the first interns to complete their internship with ACOSVO remotely. Luckily, the wonderful team made sure I still had an amazing time and I ended up learning so much from them.

I’m from a small town in Belgium, where I study Office Management at the Thomas More University of Applied Sciences. The weather here is pretty much the same as in Scotland, so when I looked outside at the snow storms in April, I could at least pretend I was there in spirit. Fortunately, the weather improved so I could still take part in the #StepCountChallenge organised by Paths for All. I’ve been doing my best to keep up with everyone else but man, people at ACOSVO sure know how to walk!

It of course wasn’t just me working remotely, the entire team has been working from their own homes. That meant daily catch-up calls with Ash, who was my mentor, and regular online meetings with the rest of the team. It was amazing to see how ACOSVO worked their way around the pandemic by moving all their events and services online. In a time when leaders needed the support the most, ACOSVO showed up and delivered.

Under Ash’s wing, I got to coordinate online webinars and workshops, and I met so many brilliant people through my screen. It was very interesting to listen in on the topics brought by the many talented facilitators. Other than events, I got to gain experience in marketing by creating materials on Canva and Biteable for services like the Mentoring Programme and events evaluation. I also had the pleasure of posting on ACOSVO’s Twitter page. Honestly, it would take me more than just this page to list all of the awesome things I got to do, but let’s just say I wasn’t bored a single minute during my internship. The diversity in tasks and all the programs I learned to work with never grew old.

When I first started my internship, I couldn’t have imagined how great it would still turn out to be under the circumstances. I know of course that I missed out on a lot, like meeting the team in real life and getting to explore Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland. Lucky for me, everyone has promised to be my tour guides whenever I am able to come visit. Don’t think I won’t hold you to that! As soon as the quarantine rule lifts, I’ll be there.

Working abroad has always been on my bucket list, and even though I haven’t (yet) been able to make the trip, working with a Scottish organisation like ACOSVO has been an absolute pleasure. I want to give a huge thank you to everyone at ACOSVO, and to Ash in particular, for embracing me as one of your own, even though you’ve only ever met me through a screen. It may be goodbye to the on-screen faces for now, but it’s definitely a see you soon in real life!