Inside this Andover Bubble that students can easily become caught up in, we become somewhat oblivious of the real world and how it works. Beyond Phillips Academy, even beyond college, there is something that all of us must prepare for – professional jobs. The professional world holds some things that cannot be learned in a classroom, but only through interaction and real experience. Internships are the perfect way to gain work experience for PA students who only have short breaks from school to gain as much work experience as possible. This past winter break, I, along with seven other members of Andover Young Entrepreneurs, a young club on campus, traveled to Shanghai to work as interns in different companies. I chose to work with New World China Land, a prominent real estate company based in Asia. New World China Land owns hotels, service apartments and office buildings all over China and is a well-established Chinese company in the market. As interns for this company, my peers and I learned how the “back of the house” was operated. From staff cafeterias to human resource departments, we got to see for ourselves how a company works and functions. We were able to talk to a variety of workers and staff, from senior managers to marketing officers to security guards. By watching people throughout the day carry on their work, we were able to gain valuable experience that we would not have had at PA. Although internships may seem filled with work and stress, this was not the case for me and my peers. After spending a good portion of the day at a hotel or office building, we were able to have fun during the evenings. Shopping, taking in the sights, celebrating birthdays and even singing karaoke were just some of the activities that filled our evenings. Despite the fact that being an intern means being a worker, high school students should not avoid internships because of fear of wokring. Internships are not just extra points that you write on a college application; they are invaluable opportunities to discover what type of work you would like to do in the future and methods to prepare yourself for work in the competitive business world. Besides some useful Chinese vocabulary, I learned important lessons in Shanghai. Nothing could have shown me a glimpse of the world beyond Phillips Academy better than this trip. From marketing strategies to ways to keep your employees motivated and happy, I now have at least a sense of how things are done in a company. Andover Young Entrepreneurs took the initiative to provide this gateway for Andover students to temporarily remove themselves from the infamous Andover Bubble and see for themselves what they will need to do in the future. The AYE trip to Shanghai has allowed me to learn how Andover will prepare me for the world beyond school, and how my passions will ultimately help me accomplish my goals for the future. I also discovered the hard way that I am awful at karaoke and hold no future in professional singing.
