It is the period of internships for most of the second year IBCoM students, just like myself. For many of us, this is quite a new experience as we’re stepping into a professional workplace and are navigating how to deal with this. Besides, it also gives us new lessons to learn and shows us a small peek into our future lives.
Of course, everyone’s internship experience differs, and so does mine. Currently, I am working as an Online Marketing Intern at the sustainable fashion brand, Kuyichi, which is a small brand located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. So far, I have really enjoyed my internship and I enjoy working in a friendly and warm environment. My experience as an intern is fun, and the workload was diverse. I have written blog posts (which I obviously love as an IBCoMagazine Blogger :)), contacted sustainable influencers for campaigns, and have also been a production assistant during photoshoots.
A lesson which I have particularly learned during my time at Kuyichi is the importance of sustainability, and sustainable fashion in particular. As I’ve been writing blog posts on sustainable fashion, I have researched Kuyichi’s fashion supply chain in detailed steps. Here I’ve come across facts which I personally was not aware of myself, such as the specific fabrics that are used for sustainable clothing and its benefits. Because of this, I have gained a more specific conscience on sustainability and try to be as sustainable as possible in my personal life, such as thrifting instead of buying fast fashion, and supporting smaller sustainable and ethical brands. Furthermore, I’ve learned that sustainable fashion is not only important for our earth, but also the people behind those quality garments. Since we tend to forget that a lot of hard work goes into our clothing, as I found this very interesting, I wrote an article about this for my internship as well.
All in all, I have enjoyed my time as an intern, and I believe the internship was a great part of the IBCoM curriculum, especially when we consider the fact that many academic study programmes in the Netherlands do not offer internship opportunities. With the knowledge that I have at the moment, choosing the right path for my future will be a lot easier.
The internship experience is of course still ongoing for many. Some are ending soon, whilst others are going to last until august. Whatever position you are currently in, make the most out of your time as an intern and good luck!
Author: Danisha Carron
Editor: Gwendolyne Cheung
Illustrator: Hanh Tran