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Into the latter parts of the second semester, thoughts about the coming vacation creates a mixed feeling; of joy that finally an academic year nears its end with an undeniable eagerness to meet family; and an arguable sad feeling of separation from acquaintance and friends that live journeys away. Final day; the ‘I would miss you’, ‘where would you be’, ‘where would you be staying’ and others with warm ‘goodbyes’ clouds the atmosphere after that final paper for the semester as one temporarily departs from the one institution that has denied several applicants yet gracefully accepted others. Motivated by the inquiries of your arrival you set off for home. After jaw-stressing welcoming smiles for a day or two, one settles into the normal routines of cleaning, cooking, washing, ironing, polishing and several house chores and then the sleeping of much of the early days of the vacation away. 

As like a baby in a court with a half-filled feeding bottle in its mouth, there are no (or if any few) worries to distract ones ‘home sweet home’ peace. There and then an institutional requirement (for some programmes offered) to acquire a hands-on practical training popularly known as ‘attachment’ starts to trend among peers. Entering final year then you realise it’s your last chance or you might have to postpone graduation to the next year. Lucky peers with ‘links’ and ‘connections’ don’t sweat to get a very reputable company to employ them as trainees while others have to stress-fully show their zeal by visiting their prospective ‘training center’ a number of times before being employed for a minimum of six weeks.

Early Monday morning, one wears his/her formal and more corporate attire and journeys through the hassle of the city only to be told to wait for their supervisors whom would arrive hours later. You wait patiently, in hunger and anxiety, flipping through old newspapers. There comes the placement into departments of the institution. With a closed eye, one is taken to sectors of the company that won’t offer anything than a mere signature. Without complaints you accept the offer as your choices are limited. 

What was meant to be a pragmatic approach to the knowledge acquired in school tends to running errands and sorting out materials mostly. The essence of the internship is then questioned because many who have gone through such a situation confess it was quite a waste of time. While some attribute corporate attitudes being instilled in interns, others encourage internship as making beneficial contacts for future endeavours. But then those who are employed in companies that deal with issues pertaining to their programme and then placed in the right department do get that practical experience inclusive a valuable advertisement of oneself dependent on the attitude displayed. Meaning subsequent appointment is inevitable with an opening for recruitment.

In the event of employment, that is recruitment, some interns have a high expectation of being able to garner money from excesses of over-budgeted expenses, the small small ‘chobo’. This caters for the credits, the small meeting with friends, outings and others. This group of interns have already planned benefits and do not worry much about the essence of internship other than a form of making money. Other interns tend to be on the losing side as expenses are either well budgeted or under budgeted. They lose stress-free sleeping hours to hours working for mostly no pay. To others the privilege of meeting friends are not entitled to them, so use this as an opportunity to exercise such privilege self-imposed now. 

While some companies, out of respect, give some form of allowance, whether it being scanty or bumper (in some eyes), others do nothing but wish you luck and send you off with broad smiles. If one (mostly those creatures with the magic organ, females) is lucky enough, one of the individuals (managers or bosses) gives a token of appreciation for the work done. Such send-offs delights an intern so much that he/she wishes for a second round of internship.

In all, it’s a labour that is not paid for or sparsely done either for the stress encountered in being recruited or the work tirelessly done without complaint.