Strengths, Weaknesses, Challenges, and What I Would Do Differently

Hey there, Lovies!

Today, I want to talk about some of the challenges I faced during my internship at Action Damien. You know, learning doesn't really happen without a few bumps in the road. Every new idea, place, or project comes with its own set of doubts and mixed feelings that we’ve got to sort through.

When I look back at my journey and the feedback from my evaluations, I can clearly see how much I developed, but also where I struggled and learned the most. One of my main strengths was my ability to take ownership of my work. I was motivated, organized, and willing to take initiative when developing educational ideas, designing activities, or creating materials. I often worked very independently, which allowed me to move projects forward and apply what I had learned in my studies to real situations. I felt confident using theoretical knowledge to design programs and structure learning experiences, and this helped me see that I was capable of contributing meaningfully to the organization.

At the same time, this independence also revealed one of my main weaknesses. I realized that I was too used to working alone, as I would normally do in academic settings, and I did not always collaborate as much as I could have. Feedback during my mid-term evaluation made me aware that I needed to communicate more openly as I would seek the inputs of my fellow interns in private but my mentor wanted me to do that openly so everyone could see, involve colleagues earlier, and be more patient with shared processes. This was not always easy for me, because I was focused on completing tasks efficiently and sometimes found it frustrating when work had to be revised multiple times. Over time, however, I began to understand that these revisions were not setbacks but part of how professional educational work is developed collectively and responsibly.

The biggest challenge for me was adjusting my expectations. I started the internship with clear goals and imagined I would complete them in a linear way, like academic assignments. Instead, projects evolved, timelines changed, and priorities shifted, meaning that some objectives were only partially achieved. At first, this felt like I had not done enough, but through reflection I learned that contributing to an ongoing process is just as valuable as producing a finished product. I also became more aware of my tendency toward perfectionism and learned to focus more on usefulness and collaboration rather than trying to make everything final or flawless.

If I were to start the internship again, I would prioritize studying in depth about the organization's structure, their goals, their workplace dynamics and accepted language, open collaboration and openness to varied perspectives from everyone. I would also focus less on completing a set number of outputs, accepting uncertainty as part of the process and focus more on understanding how each contribution fits into a larger educational ecosystem. Overall, these experiences helped me shift my mindset from that of a student trying to complete tasks to that of a developing professional learning how to work with others, adapt to change, and see education as a continuous, evolving practice.

To find out more about the challenges I faced in details, please watch the video via this link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGduNmqsd/