Hello, my dear blog.

It's been a month since I started my internship in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) and I'm currently working under Wildlife Conservation section which is quite fascinating and exciting because they got unit harimau, unit tapir, unit badak, unit burung, unit primates and so on. The first week was like meh, we only did office works such as key in the data, scanning documents, printing, preparing invitation letters, gossiping, watching movies diam-diam, napping, scrolling facebook, eh? hehe and that was fine sebab office kosong since semua busy preparing and joining OPS Belang. It's kinda good juga because we have the chance to get familiar with our workplace dengan tenang dan slowly. So, first week tu macam tiada kerja untuk dibuat but that doesn't last long sebab after that, we were very busy for Malayan Tapir Conservation Action Plans program that ended up last friday. Jadual for the next few weeks pun dah ada and dalam satu minggu, we literally need to go in and out of the forest for 3-5 days to set up camera traps and collecting them (matilanak stamina dah macam nenek tua ni). As for my officemates, I can not be thankful enough as they are very very very nice, helpful, funny and knowledgable. I learned a lot from them and they even try to match me up with one of my colleague (he's in a different section) just because we look the same! Duh. Ok, proceed with things that I personally think you need to know (at least have some basic) before you start your internship, to make it easier for you to do your job later. You can also learn more about these few things along the journey.

1. Learn how to use Microsoft Excel

Okay, Excel is more than just boxes haha. If you know exactly how to use it correctly, you will know that Excel is actually an incredible and powerful tool for arranging tons of data and information, man you don't even need a calculator. I bet most of us will need to use Excel to do their works and fortunately, Excel is not as complicated as we think it is (said by someone who almost gave up discovering how Excel works haha). Here are some things that you should absolutely know how to do in Excel and trust me, you'll be glad you do; sorting data, basic math function, use SUM fuction, freeze panes, automatic fill in data, autofilter, pivot table and alternate enter. You can simply learn through google or youtube, yang penting jangan malas!

2. Learn to remember important people (including their rank)

Especially if you work in a government agency, buat some research siapa pengarah, siapa timbalan pengarah and so on before you start working. Takut nanti first day terserempak dengan mana-mana Dato', dengan selamba je kau cakap "Selamat pagi, Encik." hahaha ha nahas. Be good with their personal assistant juga supaya senang nak tahu their schedule or untuk minta tandatangan. As an intern, by knowing these people, it shows that you do put some efforts to learn more about them. Nampak remeh bukan? Tapi itulah langkah pertama for you to build your professional network because having a well-established network is one of the valuable components in your life. Who knows, the relationship you build with them will eventually help you to further your goals.

3. Learn to write and speak formally

I can not emphasize more how important this is. The way you write and speak does reflect what kind of person you are, ingat tu. Bukan setakat email je kena formal, kalau boleh nak whatsapp supervisor or any colleagues yang senior than you pun seeloknya jangan guna short form, susun bahasa bagi cantik dan elakkan any urban slang seperti "malu apa bosskur". Other than that, I personally think the correct usage of punctuation is critical sebab punctuation ni play a big role in giving intended meaning to your sentence. Guna wrong punctuation mark or even wrong placement can change the whole meaning of the sentence and can even convert the sentence to complete nonsense tau. Bila nak bercakap pun, please jaga your intonation and body language. Be professional. Intonation and body language are important as they give information beyond the basic meaning of the words and may avoid misinterpretation. Kalau hari tu kau emosi, rasa nak bunuh orang sekali pun, jangan tengking orang sekeliling ya.

Ok to be honest, yang tanya soalan tu pun aku fail sebab believe it or not, I am an extremely shy person around strangers huhu. I guess that is the reason why first impression orang pada aku semuanya sombong. But, in order to survive and tak bawa malu nama university and course, I push myself to go introduce myself, talk with them and ask for any works that I can do. Walaupun masa tu suara macam nak taknak je keluar, at the end of the day, I made it. If you don't understand something or you literally don't know how to do a job, go ask. Ask until you can finally understand and do it properly. Jangan malu nanti sesat jalan. Google map can't help you with this problem okay. Lagi satu, when someone tanya ada volunteer tak untuk tolong buat something, I'll always grab the chance (bila takde kerja jela) because you can learn something new and meet new people while doing the job but don't overdo yourself sampai there are too many works on your plate. So overall, kita kena ingat, penat ni hanya untuk 6 bulan tapi ilmu yang kita dapat is for a lifetime.

Once you have been given the opportunity to be one of the members of the team, you need to play it right. Show them your genuine commitments. Avoid staying in the shadows even though you're just an intern. Show them your worth, your skill, your talent yang dah lama you asah masa belajar, this is the right time for you to unleash the beast in you, ceh haha. I can give you a few guidelines that you can do if you work in a team:

I've been nominated for Anugerah Canselor. I don't put my hope too high but please pray for me, thank you xoxo