Like all things in life, everything must eventually come to an end. And so has my experience being an intern at Willingness come to an end, and yet what a journey it has been! Months ago, when I accidentally stumbled upon the internship announcement while surfing online, little did I know how far those couple of hours of filling in that application would take me.
I still remember the first evening when we got to meet some of the Willingness team and hear Matthew speak to us about their history for the first time – I was astonished by their ethos and passion for their work. Every single week since that very evening, I got to explore more and more of those hidden nooks and crannies of the vast psychology field.
One of the things that impressed me most would be Willingness’ approach of helping us make the most of every experience life throws at us by formulating clear goals and intentions. These goal-alignment meetings with our managers ensured that I felt listened to and supported in the process. I’m not going to lie – it definitely wasn’t easy. Working on an advanced research project and conducting a clinical audit simultaneously, which were both first-time experiences, sometimes brought about frustration and discouragement. Nevertheless, we always had somebody to reach out to for help – or just for a venting session – and I must say I’m so proud we managed to pull it through!
Despite all of us interns being dispersed in all the corners of the European continent and only seeing each other virtually, those 8 weeks somehow managed to bring us together through the ups and downs of the projects and tasks we were challenged with. I’m so grateful to my Family Clinic team for always sticking together and not giving up, even when it seemed like there was nothing else we could do. You girls showed me it’s never too late to keep trying.
This internship experience didn’t allow us to explore the Maltese islands and enjoy the Mediterranean sunshine, nor did it allow us to see each other face to face and get to know each other as much as I would have wanted. On the other hand, it did allow us to learn so many things – many by doing, others by listening and paying attention – that I still regard this experience as invaluable.
Thank you so much for this summer and hope to visit Malta soon! 😊
If you want to learn more about Willingness internships you can reach out here.
Alexandra Trașcă is an intern with Willingness and an undergraduate Psychology student at
Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.