SO Wai-yan Wynnie || BSc (Hons) Tourism Management || Walt Disney World Resort, USA
 As its founder Walter E. Disney saying goes: Disneyland is a place where “youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future”. The motto not only applies to the visitors to Disney, but also to So Wai-yan Wynnie, a second-year Tourism Management student, who interned at the U.S entertainment giant this summer.
Working at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, the largest theme park in the world, Wynnie was first introduced to “Disney Service”. She says, “Disney has a very strong enterprise culture. Every cast member and all front-desk staff are dedicated to create a magical moment for people to escape from reality. All temporary staff including us also received proper training sessions in performing ‘Disney Service’, which is one step ahead of good service.”
In addition, there are regular business seminars about company background, basic food and beverage management, cash handling, culinary training and on-job training. “This training complements my studies such as service management and marketing,” she says.
During the three-month placement, Wynnie worked under the Full Service Food and Beverage Section and was rotated to different positions in a restaurant from cooking, to table making, to guest serving. “We were trained to help guests in every aspect, treating every guest as a VIP and providing personalised service,” she says.
Immersed in the Western Culture
Wynnie was grateful to experience the deep-rooted American culture and patriotism. She says, “Practical understanding of other countries’ culture is very important for tourism study and it really widened my horizons.”
Despite it taking her some time to get used to the kissing and hugging greeting culture of Americans, she was impressed by how the American celebrated the Fourth of July. “I watched the Independence Day Fireworks show and it was fantastic! Americans are very patriotic. They all dressed and made-up in the colors of the national flag. I was really impressed,” she says.
Wynnie thinks the internship took place at the right time when she needed to review her career pursuit and study before graduation. “The frequent interaction with tourists in the park made me realise the advantage of learning one more foreign language. Since a large number of people in the U.S., such as Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, can only speak Spanish, I think it will be beneficial to my future career to know one more language,” she says.
Wynnie has now gained confidence to meet challenges. “The experience has strengthened my confidence about working in the dynamic tourism industry. I will equip myself to meet the up-coming challenges and look for opportune moments,” she concluded.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.2/5 (6 votes cast)
HUNG Yip-shing || BA (Hons) Language Studies for the Professions || Sing Tao Daily New York, USA
 Hung Yip-shing always has an interest in the media industry. Rewarded a chance to be an intern at the newspaper, Sing Tao Daily New York, Yip-shing got a taste of the challenging yet bittersweet life of a reporter and a better picture of the working environment of a newsroom.
As a reporter, Yip-shing conducted interviews and wrote stories based on the facts and information he collected. It was not easy for the newcomer of New York. “I usually got one or two assignments every day. I was assigned to most of the events right before they started. Since I was not a New Yorker, I usually reserved an hour as buffer to find the right route to my destination. It was kind of an adventure to me every time,” says Yip-shing, majoring in Language and Communication.
It also took Yip-shing some time to catch the American’s accent and pace of talking. “It was a hurdle, especially when I was in press briefings and conferences. Americans speak so fast that I could barely follow. I was not used to their accent either,” he says. “The challenge was that I could not miss any details and I didn’t want to waste other people’s time by raising the same questions.”
Conscious of professional journalism 
Working in the newspaper also taught him the media ethics and professionalism. Yip-shing was triggered to think seriously about the morale and responsibility of a reporter and the media after reporting a Chinese woman severely injured in a car accident. When he tried to shoot some photos of the scene and the injured woman, he was immediately stopped by a cop who considered his action as inhuman and cruel. “My mind went blank at that moment and I didn’t know how to respond and what to do. I then waited for my senior partner for assistance and advice,” says Yip-shing.
Under the seven-week training and on-the-job practice provided by Sing Tao, Yip-shing gradually picked up the skills to be a good reporter. He reckons writing an interesting lead to introduce a story is one of the most useful skills he learnt. “An attractive lead is important because it gives readers the first impression of the story. Knowing what to be included and how to write a good lead benefited me a lot,” Yip-shing says.
He also learnt to find a good angle for the story and report a balanced news. His critical and analytical thinking has also strengthened through the training in the media. “This internship experience has definitely sharpened my edge and enhanced my competitiveness when looking for a job upon my graduation,” he says.
Yip-shing was so grateful to have this fulfilling training in New York and thinks students should be proactive in looking for internship opportunities. “I am now taking a more proactive attitude to learn and improve myself. This will be the key to success. Just aim for making a little improvement every single day and you will see the difference it makes in the long run,” he says.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.6/5 (11 votes cast)
LIU Xiao Lewis || BSc (Hons) Internet & Multimedia Technologies || Health Monitor Network, USA
 The seven-week internship in New York sounded daunting to Liu Xiao Lewis first of all. However, once the internship kicked off, all his worries were gone and he took a great leap through taking on a range of challenges.
The Electronic & Information Engineering undergraduate who interned at Health Monitor Network, a magazine publisher in U.S specialising in patient education, worked on a project exploring the market for online health information. Despite it being totally strange topic to Lewis, he made progress day by day and successfully developed two software programmes for the company.
One of the softwares, Chemo Calendar, serves to remind patients to take medicines and provides a white blood cell count to track health status. “Since it is designed for patients, it is especially important to maintain a stable and applicable database. On top of my knowledge of C++ programming language, I also browsed many websites to familiarise myself with database maintenance,” says Lewis.
His initiative and self-study paid off. The outcome was satisfying and the service was put in the Apple Online Store for sale.
Valuable asset for the future
After the completion of the software, Lewis then put his efforts into transferring the Chemo Calendar software to fit the iPhone platform. “Programming for iPhone was something totally new to me and my boss bought me three books to start with. It was not an easy task to accomplish. But the more I read, the more I gained. Eventually, I completed the task in three weeks. The process was a demonstration of learning from mistakes,” he says. Now, Lewis has mastered the skills to write programmes for iPhones, which will definitely be a great asset to him in the future.
Lewis would like to express gratitude to his supervisor, Alex Dong , who guided him through the U.S culture and helped him explore his strengths as well as weaknesses. “Alex always shared with me his interesting stories such as the businesses he had dabbled in, the setbacks he had faced,” he says. “His words motivated me to follow my dream. His positive feedback on my performance was a recognition of my ability and boosted my confidence.”
The placement in New York has pushed Lewis to make a big step forward in his life. “It was a highly rewarding experience for me. Both my practical knowledge and personal development have significantly improved,” he says. “Undertaking an overseas internship is a decision one would never regret.”
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.2/5 (5 votes cast)
WOO Chung-hing, YU Ngai, BBA (Hons) in Accountancy || MAK Ka-leung, BBA (Hons) in Marketing || Windows Over Harlem, USA
Ignorance generates misunderstanding. This is how the prejudices against different ethnic groups and cultures are produced. Harlem, a major African-American residential center in New York City, is notoriously a hub of crime and poverty in the U.S. Like many people, Woo Chung-hing, Yu Ngai and Mak Ka-leung were were a little concerned when they knew they would spend two months in the area. Thanks to an internship at a beverage and catering services company, Windows Over Harlem, the PolyU students built a totally new perception of the Harlem culture. During their internships, they had firsthand encounters with African-Americans which changed their impressions.
Chung-hing says, “All my co-workers are nice and helpful African Americans. They always shared with us their culture and were very curious about the Chinese culture.” Interestingly, he discovered that many African-Americans presumed all Chinese could do kung-fu and he was often asked to perform martial arts.
Activities enhance mutual understanding 
To promote the interactions between the two distinctive cultures, the three Hong Kong students came up with the idea of organising a cross-cultural luncheon. The innovative idea was highly appreciated and supported by their supervisor at Windows Over Harlem.
“It was a totally new experience to us. We planned the rundown and guests list, and contacted different parties. Although we encountered numerous obstacles during the preparation stage, thanks to the support and advice from my colleagues, the seemingly complicated project gradually got on the right track,” says Ngai.
The big day finally arrived. African hop-hop music played. It successfully attracted over hundred of Harlem citizens and many were surprised to know that the luncheon was actually organised by three Hong Kong students. Ka-leung says, “It showed the friendliness and openness of the people there. Some voluntarily performed in the event, others brought along celebrities and politicians who made our event even more successful and attracted media coverage.”
The experience and adventure in Harlem changed the way Chung-hing, Ngai and Ka-leung think and see the world, getting them ready to take on challenges and differences in the real world.
VN:F [1.7.5_995] Rating: 4.4/5 (9 votes cast)
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