The day I entered the Strategic Initiatives and External Relations (SIER) Room no. C3-04, I was hell scared. I saw Shelly and Jess sitting at the table. They were busy doing something. The moment they saw me, they stood up and welcomed me with there real smiles which made me comfortable. Then came, Charlene, followed by Carolyn (my supervisor). Carolyn and Charlene heartily greeted me, and they walked me through the work. The first day included meetings with Carolyn, Charlene, and Shelly.

Within a week I got adjusted in this environment as it was friendly, energetic and full of life. The morning started with greetings, followed by meetings, discussions and brainstorming sections. Apart from these, I got a chance to meet Manjeet, Tas, Andrew, and Samantha. Mondays used to start with a discussion about the weekend, health tips n tricks and then with the work.

We used to have traffic meetings bi-weekly and every other Thursday we had salad lunches. This post will be incomplete without introducing you guys my mentors who added another level of confidence in me and made me a stronger person.

Meet the Director of SIER Department: Andrew Petrou 

I met Andrew during my third week of Internship as he was away with his family for vacation. When I met him, I never felt like I was meeting him for the first time. His smile and the never-ending energy to handle back to back meetings inspired me all the time. He has always appreciated my presence and made me feel like home. Andrew loves Davids Tea and making coffee for everyone. He takes health seriously, and because of him, I could learn some of the stretches.

Meet my Supervisor: Carolyn Ritchie 

If Andrew is energetic, then Carolyn is the vibe behind that energy. She is a perfect epitome of ‘Beauty with Brains.’ She has given her heart and soul to this office, and I have been lucky to have her as my mentor. She helped me achieve my learning plan objectives. She made me feel comfortable and taught me how I can channelize my energy and excitement. She is a staunch follower of diet, and she never compromises with that, even though the Naan tempts her nerves out. She has exceptional presentation skills, and she can handle meetings the whole day. I admire her hairstyles the most.

Meet my Savior: Charlene D’ Costa

Charlene is a ‘Salad Queen,’ ‘Yoga Enthusiast’ and my savior. She is an alumnus of PR course, and she walked me through everything, be it Hootsuite, scheduling of posts, editing them or guiding me for my personal growth, social media plans or the Brandbook. She always listened and respected my thoughts. She made learn how can I put forward my thoughts. I learned to be organized from her and honestly speaking, her diary and bag make me admire her. She loves to give cards, and she gave me a fantastic card on birthday which brought a big smile on my face. Charlene became my confidante in this 8-week journey.

Meet the voice of SIER: Shelly Gupta

Shelly is the mouthpiece of Solv. service where we act as a catalyst between the industry and the college to bring the best out of them. She handles the internal as well as external relations. Since she is the mouthpiece, henceforth, she is always busy over the phone. I learned how to sell yourself in front of the internal and external team. She walked me through the entire partnership process. She gave me feedback on my social media plan as she was the one who could tell about the partners which I recommended to work with.

Meet the SIER Nightingale: Jessica Vella

Jess seems to be an inspirational figure who makes the office environment musical and exciting with her humming, and her hunger pangs can make anyone laugh. She is the first person who comes to the office. She is cute, sweet and adorable. She loved my pasta salad, and for the first time, I felt proud of cooking. She is excellent with multi-tasking, be it admin work, writing minutes during meetings or handling excel sheet during traffic meetings. You say, and she will do it. She is a go-getter, and I will surely miss her Indian food stories. I had never seen anyone so proud of the fact that she looks like an Indian. I feel super pumped up around her.

Meet our Heartthrob: Manjeet Kang

If you ever need to know Funding Opportunities, then you should go to Manjeet. She is just like that matchmaker who will make you meet your soulmate. But in technical words, she finds the funding opportunity for your firm and suggests you apply for it. While I was working on the Brandbook, she was the one who came to my rescue. She gave me a brief tutorial about her work and the way she explained, she nailed it. She is meant to a career coach, guide. She gave me so many pieces of advice which have been carved in my heart, and I have started implementing them already. She adds lots of Indian touch with her food, and I love the way she makes you feel loved by her Shahi Paneer. You say you miss home, she will bring food for you and pamper you like a kid.

Meet our SIER mom: Samantha Corway

I guess most of the people these days know her because of her super adorable daughter, Delia, who is a star. She is classy, cute and has all the British features one could ever ask for. I met her during my last 2 weeks of internship. I never felt that I was meeting her for the first time. She has that aura in her which makes you intrigued to know her. Our mornings used to start asking about Delia, her picture on the camera. She is a fancy person who brings her super awesome bowls, cutlery and I have been inspired by her teal water bottle. She has given me mesmerizing gifts on my farewell.

Meet the SIER magical cook: Tasnuva Hasan

Tas is known for her khus khus and super fantastic Chicken. She loves to cook and can make any dish out of the given ingredients. I love the way she handles her work and life. When she is around, you always feel elated.

The last day of my internship reminded me of all the sweet memories that we guys shared, be it laughing at jokes, getting sad at my sickness, cheering me up on birthday, appreciating me for juggling internship and security job, making teas, birthday lunch, or potluck. I cannot forget the time I had spent with them, and I am going to miss them a lot.

Love you SIER family (my second home)

Yours,

Surbhi Sareen 

(Social Media Intern at SIER)