Joining YUVA as an intern was my first step into the job market. I did not quite know what to expect for what was supposed to be my big dive into the professional world. On the other hand, the corporate world I at least had some knowledge of, the non-profit world, felt like I had stumbled upon Narnia, scary, vast, and unexplored but exciting, nonetheless.

While I did have some informal experience in social work from the past occasional fundraising event in the past, working for a large NGO such as YUVA in a formal setting was a completely novel experience. My journey there was no less than an adventure. After suffering numerous rejections and endless ghosting by big corporations, I applied for an internship at YUVA on a whim, resigned to another rejection or worse, no reply at all. The shock I received after being contacted merely hours after sending my application for an interview left me reeling. I remained sceptical until the day of the interview, by the end of which I was so sure I’d already destroyed any chance at professional redemption due to my nervous disposition. I believed it was nothing short of a miracle when I was allowed to intern directly under the supervision of the executive director, Mr Krishna Athal.