A story about an internship that changed my life.
As a third year medical science student with a direct pathway into medicine you’d think I’d feel pretty secure in my future.
As a university student with many curricular activities like volunteering at a youth group, being the creative events planner in a social enterprise, working as a part-time makeup artist, coaching hockey, tutoring and doing this internship, you’d think I have everything in my life sorted.
But as a young person, you’d understand that I really don’t know what I want and there’s still a lot of uncertainty in my life.
When I joined the Accelus team I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I soon learnt Accelus was not just a company that cultivated human potential like it says on the website.
It was a family that encouraged each other and who worked together to lift each other and those around us up.
It was Phebe who believed in each and every one of us and gave us a platform to grow in our strengths.
It was Maddie who showed us how important it was to have a person with an eye for detail.
It was Michelle who showed us the value of having someone as a ‘friendship-glue’ to the company.
It was Johnny who showed us the difference it makes when you put others first.
It was Yoana who showed us the strength of gentleness and positivity.
It was this team with an intricate combination of unique strengths that showed me how change is accomplished when we are all operating out of our own field of expertise. Accelus was a place that allowed me to discover my strengths and how to grow them.
In terms of my future I always struggled to choose a profession. The people around me were excelling in what they studied and loving it whether it be medicine, human resource management or photography. The advice I was always given was “follow your passion”, but I didn’t know if I wanted medicine or makeup, I knew I loved kids but that I also enjoyed teaching. I wanted to choose and to put all my eggs in one basket so I could focus and be an expert in one area instead of just above average in a few areas. During Accelus this team helped me to realise having more than one passion wasn’t a disadvantage and instead I could use these different passions to build on one another. I realised my way of thinking was too small and I was putting myself in a box by thinking success was just picking one thing and giving up everything else that I was lucky to have a passion for.
Yes, there is still an uncertainty in my life, but I love it. It’s an uncertainty because I have no idea where my passions will take me. I know I won’t be fitting myself in a box anymore, and that I have the freedom to create. I am unique and so will be my impact.
Written By Faith Chow