Victor Pang shares about his four-month stint with Halogen
My internship at Halogen was nothing short of rewarding. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to work with youths and meet many individuals who are committed to nurturing a new generation of youths to take a lead in causes they are passionate for.
In the span of four months, Halogen broadened my horizons through many different opportunities. One of these was as a facilitator training young people in schools. As a trainer, I had to engage with youths. Getting their attention in the first five minutes can be a real challenge because student groups across schools and different cohorts can be so different. Students were also sometimes cheeky and even challenged the training content. These situations pushed me to think on my feet. I had to observe and be agile; I had to confidently and courageously accept the challenge, and provide either an answer for their questions or use their behaviour to bring up a learning point for reflection. I had to quickly think about what would work in that specific situation with what I had.
Waking up in the wee hours of the morning and travelling across the island is the norm for a trainer. Though tiring, I always found it refreshing to go back to the beginnings of my motivation as to why I started, which has helped me to bring things back into focus.
Besides training in schools, I was able to value-add to the Halogen Academy department by updating and modifying leadership modules. To enhance the educational experience for young people, I incorporated applied drama techniques – something different from the conventional drama lesson plans I learnt in school – to some modules. Thankfully, Halogen is a forward-looking organisation. The team gave me room to experiment with techniques and encouraged me along the way.
In the whole process, I learnt that to come up with a creative and successful product, one needs to experiment and explore. It is okay to make mistakes, and important to have the courage to move away from the “winning formula”. Creativity is what gets us to think of new products and ways to do things, while resilience is what keeps us going when we may fail and fail again.
Through all this, I have also developed a better understanding of our local educational landscape. A true holistic education should develop a student in the head, heart and body. As a trainer, I see myself aiding our educators in developing youths with the character, equipping them with necessary skills and also inspiring and empowering them through the exchange of stories and dreams for the future.
Hearing stories not only from youths but also my fellow colleagues has encouraged me to stand by my cause – to make drama education part of Singapore’s school curriculum. Halogen has taught me that opportunities are not only given to the best but also to the people who hold a genuine desire to learn and grow. People have listened to and encouraged my dreams, and I want to do the same for others. I find it a great pleasure listening to what youths have to say, because I believe it is powerful to be heard.
“Halogen has taught me that opportunities are not only given to the best but also to the people who hold a genuine desire to learn and grow.” –Victor Pang, Halogen Intern
All in all, I am very blessed to be given an opportunity to be an intern at Halogen. School provided me with a good foundation for future work. But it was my internship with Halogen that gave me valuable exposure. These four months has been imperative for me as an aspiring drama educator, through helping me develop clearer insights about the social, economics and politics of the industry I will join. Thank you Halogen for the experiences – I am excited for more opportunities to give back and build the next generation of young leaders!