Day 1 - My internship experience at PIM's Junior Inter.Club #2

It is not everyday that your teacher would come up to you and say, "You have to write an essay on 'My Dream Convenience Store'. However, this is an optional program. Only for those who are willing to discover the advances in modern business". It has become one of the vital things that I want to do in the future. I knew I had to grab this opportunity, as I was incognizant of whether I would get this again.

The PIM's Junior Inter.Club is held at Panyapiwat Institute of Management from June 20 - July 1. PIM firmly believes in the idea of Work Based Education (WBE).The objectives of this event are to; engage high school students in networking operations of CP ALL PLC and subsidiaries, educate high school students about the power of networking, to promote WBE of PIM, introduce students to real working environment, show the importance of multi lingual workforce and show variety in the career through company visits, office setting and distribution centers.

The entrance...

On June 20th, we all arrived with great enthusiasm to start the lecture. We were given blank name-cards to enter our names so that the lecturer can remember our name. I had written "Shruti J." and walked in the classroom like a boss.

Signing up...

MISB students were seated in the front row along with Cake and me. The lecturer broke the ice by introducing herself. "My name starts with letter G, can anyone take a guess?", she said as she raised her eyebrows. Cake instantly replied, "Is it Gift?". She nodded and smiled, "Yes, it is easy. Very common name for Thai people." "Buuuuufff!", Cake gave a witty smile to the people seated around him.

In the lecture room

All of sudden, students in MISB uniform had also come. It was unanticipated especially for me. We were introduced to Jirayu Insi (Micky), Harsh Bhamuvani, Anawin Malhotra (Winnie), Anjali Misra, Natcha Satchathammanit, Saravuth Sachdev (Sarab) and Yohan Gambhir.

"I want you to answer which industries does the CP Group handle? Answer my question after this video", the lecturer said with a grave expression on her face. The lecturer played the video on CP Group which felt like it lasted an eternity. After the video, she repeated the question again. I was fully composed, so I raised my hand in reflex. "Food, telecommunication and........uh.....retail stores.", I said with embarrassment for my hesitation. She looked at me,"Yes! Shruti, please come up the stage and receive your prize", she said with a jovial tone. It was a lightweight portable table. I felt ecstatic to get the first one.

She asked a few more questions to which Samad, Rajat and some of the MISB students replied and won. The teacher asked that which branches do CP ALL supply the materials. We were all aghast when Abhijeet read the answer from the file given and had won a table too. 

Subsequently, we were briefly taught about the basics of International Modern Trade Management (IMTM) course by Ajarn Piyanut. "Feel free to ask me any questions", she said after the presentation ended with a thunder of claps. "Are you Vietnamese?", someone from the back asked her. "Mai. Pen Khon Thai kha. (No. I am Thai.)", she said in a modulated voice. "I thought you were Filipino", I murmured . Everyone had widened their eyes. Then she said that most people felt she was Filipino due her accent in English.

Rajat and Shiva's performance of GO

After lunch, Mr Napat taught us how to play the game called "GO". The game was easy to learn, unlike chess. The lecturers told that this game helps business management skills, as we had to keep an account of every single movement we do.

After playing a couple of games with Vishal, my head started spinning. "YAY! I won", he yelled. "Urgghh, Vishal I think you should play with others. My brain won't be able to function now.", I said, keeping my palms on my head. "You just have excuses, Shruti Jha!", he squeaked as I walked out of the classroom. I ignored that statement and walked towards the van.

After wrapping up the session