Three weeks of internship in Malta

Yes, you read that right I spent three weeks in Malta for my internship.

It all started one July day when I visited my school’s website and saw an announcement for Erasmus. What is Erasmus, you ask? 

In short, Erasmus is a European program that allows students to study and complete internships abroad. 

Since I attend a vocational school, I am required to complete a two-week internship during my second and third years. Through Erasmus, I had the opportunity to do this internship abroad. 

Since I had to complete the internship anyway, I naturally thought, Why not do it abroad? 

So, I applied for the program, and by September, I was selected to go to Malta. 

Work in Malta

Before heading to Malta, I learned that I’d be working at a small real estate agency. I was also given my schedule: from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. 

P.S. During this very long workday, I even had a break. 

On my first day in the office, a colleague explained the work I’d be doing for the next three weeks. My job was to post various properties on the agency’s Facebook page. I had to post about 10–15 properties per day. On average, it took me around 5 minutes to make one post, so in total, I spent about 50 minutes to an hour and a half working each day. My colleague constantly reminded me to work slower, which surprised me. Eventually, we agreed that if I finished my tasks quickly, I could leave the office early. By the last week, I was leaving the office in less than an hour. 

I had a similar internship last year in Portugal, except there I did even more meaningless tasks: I entered old invoices into a spreadsheet. Admittedly, I worked six hours a day there. 

As with last year—and I don’t want this to come across as ungrateful for the opportunity—I didn’t learn anything at the workplace. 

Well, that’s not entirely true. I learned one thing, although I already knew it. I just internalized it even more. 

And though it might sound like a cliché, I will never have an 8 hour work day. 

I don’t just think this—I believe and know that everyone has the option to choose what they’ll do and achieve in life. Some might argue, Not everyone has the same opportunities; the system is rigged against me; it’s not that simple... In my opinion, thinking this way only limits one’s ability to make decisions because it means you don’t even believe the possibility exists. By thinking this way, you’re essentially shifting responsibility for your situation onto others, which further justifies inactivity and indecision. 

I’d like to add that even though I didn’t learn much, I’m still glad I took advantage of the opportunity. It brought me new insights or confirmed existing beliefs. 

In general, I live by the principle that if an opportunity arises, I’ll definitely try to take it.