When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade🍋

25 Aug When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade🍋

The COVID-19 Pandemic has created unfathomable challenges for everyone around the globe. Unfortunately, the situation is completely out of our hands! One thing this year has taught everyone is the concept of resilience and how to make lemonade when life gives you lemons!

We spoke to one of our amazing students, Sofia Di Domenicantonio, about her experience of undertaking an internship during one of the most challenging times in history. Sofia is a Psychology for Organisations student at Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore in Italy. She discusses how to create opportunities out of obstacles and always look for the positives in life!

Which Absolute program did you participate in?

I participated in the remote internship program. Although at the beginning I wanted to live and work in another Country, not remotely, the pandemic has made this impossible. Rather than seeing this situation as an obstacle, I saw it as an opportunity. The pandemic, indeed, has revealed to us what our future will be and now we know for sure that remote working will become increasingly important.

I worked at Carrefour Global Sourcing, a retail company. The company has 9 offices around the world, in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Phnom Penh, Dhaka, Delhi, Istanbul, Massy/Paris and Sao Paulo. I worked in the Hong Kong Office, helping with Employer Branding strategy aimed at retaining talented employees and attracting additional talent outside the company. In other words, I dealt with internal and external communications aimed at promoting Carrefour Global Sourcing as an excellent employer. 

How did your internship help you achieve your goals?

I reached my goals thanks to an experience that allowed me to be proactive, to show my skills and my desire to learn. The internship was the place where I was able to show that, in addition to being an excellent student, I can be more. This, also, had a huge impact on my self-esteem and knowledge.

What advice can you give to students currently facing challenges?

Be yourself! Don’t try in every way to appear intelligent because you certainly are. What really interests your team is that you are a person open to receiving feedback, able to listen, willing to learn, curious and creative. There are so many intelligent people and, therefore, it’s important to make a difference. My mantra is “if you want more, become more” and “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

We can all learn a valuable lesson from Sofia and her internship experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if something turns out to be not exactly as you planned it, try and find the opportunities that can be made of a bad situation. Never stop developing and growing as a person!

[If you were inspired by Sofia’s story and want to find out more about our programs, visit our website here.]