A teacher activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in his students. Since childhood, I had been passionate about teaching, sharing my knowledge, and inspiring others, but I never did anything in this regard because I was unaware of the proper way of teaching. I also lacked the confidence for public speaking, which restrained me from following my passion.
One afternoon, while crossing my department’s corridor, I saw a poster of Internshala on the notice board. I came to know about various internships, workshops, and online training that were available for students like me. I attended their workshops but never applied for an internship as I thought I lacked the relevant knowledge and programming skills. Fortunately, in 2015, I was hired as an analyst in Capgemini. I completed my degree and started my professional journey. The job provided me with good opportunities to get extensive industry exposure but my curiosity and passion for teaching and sharing knowledge remained unchanged. So, I decided to utilise my time and started looking for virtual internships on the platform.
I applied for a few internships but couldn’t make the cut initially. However, I continued applying and started getting responses from various companies. Within a few days, I was hired for three internships, one of which was a content development internship. All this while, I had been waiting for an opportunity to pursue my passion and this was my moment of glory. I gave a telephonic interview wherein I was asked about my educational background, current job, and my willingness to work with them. Then, they gave me an assignment where I had to present a demo lesson using their educator app. I demonstrated virtual lessons on the theory of computation and web technology.
I was pretty sure that I’d be selected for the internship, and I was! In a couple of days, I received an email informing that I was hired. I created my educator account and completed the orientation process, after which I received calls from the organisation explaining the procedures and presentation templates to be used while creating lessons. My job was to create video lessons on different concepts of programming languages to make an impact on thousands of learners on the platform. These video lessons were to be created in both Hindi and English. To date, I have delivered more than 50 lessons on different subjects of computer science such as graph theory, the theory of computation, etc. Within a month of uploading lessons, I got more than 500 views and followers on my account. I also received appreciation from my team on Teacher’s Day.
The combination of job and internship at the same time was an amazing experience. I handled the responsibilities of both my workplaces with strict adherence to deadlines. I worked at Capgemini for nine-and-a-half hours daily and created the lessons afterward. If I made any mistake, I had to re-record the lesson from the very beginning. I delivered those lessons over the weekend. Recording these lessons improved my confidence, planning, speaking, and presentation skills. I believe I was able to cope up with such a hectic schedule because of my passion for teaching.
The team helped me at every stage until my lessons got published. Not only did I enjoy the flexibility offered by the internship but I also got a chance to work with some friendly and welcoming people. This internship was a fulfilling experience which helped me learn and discover many more things than I had imagined. It also helped me realise the potential that empowered me to keep up my momentum.
I had never thought I’d get an opportunity to share my knowledge and educate learners. I’d like to express my gratitude to my parents who encouraged me to pursue my dream and taught me to become a kind human being. Lastly, I’d thank everyone at Internshala for providing me with this opportunity. That one glance at the company’s poster made me understand the meaning of ‘internships that matter’. I hope I continue to have an array of opportunities and excel in my professional career.
About the Author: Shubham Darda, a student of Sinhgad Institutes, Pune, shares how a virtual internship helped him follow his passion along with a full-time job. This article was first published on Internshala, an internship and training platform.