Alvin

I’m Alvin Acosta taking Diplomacy and International Studies in Ateneo de Manila University, and I applied for an internship in Asia Hope Camp Organization because I wanted to experience working abroad, getting to know other people and their cultures from different parts of the world and to have an experience of working for a non-profit organization like ACOPIA. I was tasked to conduct one-on-one english classes for Korean students, taking, editing and directing videos, tweeting for the K-POP Camp Twitter account and sending emails to international organizations for possible partnerships with ACOPIA. 

I was tasked to conduct one-on-one english classes for Korean students, taking, editing and directing videos, tweeting for the K-POP Camp Twitter account and sending emails to international organizations for possible partnerships with ACOPIA. 

My internship in ACOPIA is a one of a kind experience. Maybe to summarize my internship, I can say that my internship was more than just an internship. It is an experience of many firsts and I learned so much. When I started working, I was worried I would not be able to fulfill my tasks well but with the help of our supervisors and co-interns, I was able to achieve what was being asked of me to do. I was assigned to create a video about ACOPIA interns inviting people to join the internship and at first and it was actually not as hard as I expected to be because I also had fun. My co-interns were very nice and were always up for anything so I had a great time while doing this task. I was able to finish the video and I owe it all to my co-interns who are very nice on why I was able to accomplish the task. The office itself is a great opportunity for international and cultural exchange because a lot of us come from different parts of the world and it’s amazing how there is so much you could learn from each other. 

 I was also able to make a video about K-Pop auditions. I compiled and edited some clips of rap, dance, and singing auditions of ACOPIA K-POP School students. I also made a video of how to get to the ACOPIA Office from the subway with one of my co-interns. This was especially one of the most difficult ones because we had to shoot a lot of times. Other than that and I also helped my co-intern a lot of times in shooting some footages for her video.  Making videos, editing them and shooting them was a challenge for me, but I learned that it takes patience and one has to be detail-oriented to produce a great product of work.

    I was also able to teach English to a Korean Student at ACOPIA, and it was a great experience. It was not your normal traditional english class wherein you have to teach the alphabet or simple nouns, it was more of a conversational type of english class. Upon hearing the stories of my student, I feel like I’ve learned a lot also form my student because we were talking about history and other interesting things about his experiences as a Korean living in South Korea. It is one of my favorite experiences here with ACOPIA. 

I was also able to participate in one of the “meet-ups”, wherein we were able interact with other people from all ages who want to get to know each other and know about each other’s culture. 

I also cherish some of our trips like when all of us interns joined Director Cho in SOPA or the School of Performing Arts. We got to see how the country really celebrates and promotes art and music not just as a career, but a way of life. I also enjoyed the K-Pop dance classes they gave for the interns because even though I’m not a dancer, I was able to appreciate the art of dancing and totally had fun with my co-interns. 

Being in Korea has been a big learning experience for me. As I was able to live here for almost two months, I have always been thankful for the people and their kindness. More than the beautiful places I’ve been to in South Korea,  the best part about here are the people because people here are very welcoming, helpful and respectful to one another, and I think that’s something I would carry with me when I go back home. Overall I’ve had a wonderful time and I would definitely carry with me the lessons and memories I’ve had in this internship experience.