Meet Sophie: From the UK to Vietnam’s Buzzing Coworking Scene!
Sophie Delugar, originally from the UK, is now based in New Zealand studying a double degree in Commerce and Property at the University of Auckland. Alongside her studies, she’s a part-time Graduate Analyst and the Treasurer of the university’s Cheerleading Association. A bookworm with a love for tennis and long walks, Sophie’s adventure continued with an exciting summer internship in Ho Chi Minh City with CRCC Asia where she soaked in the culture, built great relationships, and drank plenty of watermelon juice with her host company team!
Here’s her experience in her own words:
- Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background.
Hi there, my name is Sophie! Originally from the UK, I moved to New Zealand to study at the University of Auckland where I pursued a conjoined Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Property. Alongside her academic pursuits, I work part-time as a Graduate Analyst and am Treasurer of the University of Auckland Cheerleading Association. I am a classic book worm who also enjoys long walks & playing tennis.
- What motivated you to join the CRCC Asia program and select your specific host location?
Vietnam has a rich culture, and active recent history which is simultaneously tragic and incredibly uplifting. Not only was this internship an incredible opportunity to experience a new culture, living day to day as ‘local’ as you can, but also a wonderful opportunity to learn about the historical composition of this country and how it came to be. Considering that Ho Chi Minh City [HCMC] is the commercial center of Vietnam, it was a natural decision. Plus – who doesn’t love Vietnamese food!
- Please give us some snippets of your internship tasks- What were the skills you learned and applied, and what were some of the most rewarding aspects of your internship?
My internship was at The Hive Vietnam, a coworking operator operating across several countries in the Asia-Pacific region. During my time at The Hive, I attended two market forums discussing the macro-economic conditions and property market, helped to build excel tracking tools to improve insights and analytic comprehension of The Hive’s strategic position within the coworking market in HCMC. Regarding the most rewarding aspect of the internship, I would have to say it was the relationships that I built with my fellow interns and the company’s team. Everyone was incredibly welcoming – we would always have lunch together as a team – and frequently headed out to collect watermelon juice from our local juice vendor!
- What challenges or unexpected things did you encounter while working and living abroad? How did you overcome them?
Personally, I was very fortunate and did not encounter any challenges; but some of my fellow interns did face a few upset stomachs (very common if you travel anywhere with food you are not used to)!
- What were your favorite experiences outside of work? Did you participate in any cultural activities or events? Please share some that were most memorable or impactful for you.
One of my favorite things was traveling around the city and visiting all the museums on HCMC! I did attend both the cultural and networking event, where we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels & attended a University TEDx event – both were super fun! I was unable to attend one of the events as I did a weekend trip up to Hanoi, where I traveled around to Ninh Binh and took a two day hike from Sapa through some rural rice farming villages which was incredible! Vietnam has an incredible coffee shop culture, so going coffee shop hopping with my fellow interns and assigned Vietnamese buddy was a regular activity!
I was honored during my time to meet so many wonderful individuals, who were so generous in showing me their culture and customs and sharing their life with me; I am eternally grateful for their kindness!
- What advice would you give to future interns on making the most out of their CRCC Asia experience? What are the key takeaways from your CRCC Asia internship that you would like to share with others?
My advice to any future interns is just to go, do it, and make the most of it! Whenever you have the opportunity to be in a new culture or environment, make sure to fully embrace it and try everything; I promise you will only regret the things you didn’t do!
