Australia Re-Wired My Conscious

As my internship in Australia ends, I could not be more grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in such an excellent program. I have learned so much about Australian culture, supply chain management, and myself.

Before leaving for Australia, I knew that Australians were warm and friendly, and my internship in Sydney confirmed my beliefs. Australians will always take time out of their day to engage with others, and they are very enthusiastic, comedic, and empathetic in conversations. As someone who struggles to reach out and meet new people, Australians are the perfect match for me. Many of them would approach me and take a genuine interest in my life. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that Australians readily invite people into their personal lives. For example, I have a co-worker named Saul. I did not get the chance to talk to Saul for the first few weeks of my internship. However, once I finally met him, we immediately bonded over our love for rugby. The next day he invited me to play some rugby, grab a drink, and get dinner with him along with other workers in the warehouse. Typically, I do not invite a colleague into my personal life right after meeting them, so I was surprised by his gesture. I felt a little uncomfortable, but I accepted the offer and had a great night getting to know my comrades on a personal level. My experience in Australia shows that Australians greatly value friendships and are always looking to expand their network.

As mentioned, I learned a lot about Australian culture, supply chain management, and myself during this internship. I mainly came to Australia to develop cross-cultural skills, and deepen my understanding of supply chain management. However, I found the personal lessons most impactful. Two lessons had the most profound impact on me.

The first lesson I learned is never to doubt my capabilities. I am capable of so much more than my mind initially thought. When I traveled to New Zealand, I did a 134-meter bungee jump. Growing up, I always told myself I could never handle doing something as daring as bungee jumping, and that mentality stuck with me into my adulthood. Even though I was terrified, I completed the jump and entirely reconstructed how I perceive myself and my potential.

Additionally, I learned this same lesson in the workplace. During the earlier weeks of my internship, I spent time shadowing the warehouse expeditor so I could understand the production process. One day, the expeditor called in sick, and my boss asked me to fill her role. I did not think I was ready to take on a leadership role, but I still accepted the offer. Over the next couple of days, I ran the warehouse floor and sped up the production flow. Many of my colleagues expressed their appreciation and commended me for my work. I once again extended my capabilities beyond my perceived limitations.

The second lesson I learned withhold all pre-conceived judgments about others. As mentioned in previous blog posts, I work in a very diverse environment with people from different cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. For example, I have little to no experience interacting with people from China, New Zealand, India, Fiji, Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Sudan. Due to my lack of experience with these cultures, I would not expect to easily befriend these people due to a lack of common interests and cultural norms. However, I befriended people from all these countries in my workplace and learned that humans have much more in common than different. I believe the warm and friendly Australian culture facilitated the learning process for me because many of my international co-workers approached me.

In conclusion, this internship abroad program truly changed my life as Australian culture enabled me to learn vital life lessons.

Area where we hold our daily crew meetings. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to take photos during a strategy meeting.

Me bungee jumping in New Zealand