I am a fourth-year international student from Mongolia majoring in economics and minoring in social entrepreneurship and computer science. During my first year of university, I could not participate in extracurricular activities. I was new to Canada; my only priorities were adjusting to a new lifestyle and improving my English language, as I finished Russian secondary school, therefore English was my third language. Being able to communicate with others and understand my professors were critical to me. When I realized I needed to work on my extracurricular activities, the world went into quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This summer was my last chance to get exposure to life outside of university and experience life as a working adult.
I have immense curiosity about my culture and tradition, as well as Mongolia's economic and political standing. During the winter term, I did research on Mongolia’s extreme traffic congestion to participate in a competition. While researching, I came across the website of a non-profit organization, GerHub, that focuses on bettering the lives of nearly 60 percent of citizens living in Ger areas of the capital city Ulaanbaatar. Ger is a Mongolian word for round, tent-like nomadic dwelling. What caught my attention was that GerHub was working on various innovative projects that address problems that have already been accepted in society and are deemed to be the norm when in reality, they aren’t. I wanted to be part of the team and learn how they could carry out these creative projects.
At GerHub, I was working under the social innovation lead and was a social innovation intern. I was given a project, GerBnB, community-based tourism, to focus on and was welcome to join any other projects I wanted.
GerBnB was a major initiative designed to fund the GerHub’s operations and Ger Innovation Center, a community center located in one of the Ger areas. My responsibilities encompassed connecting travellers with authentic Mongolian cultural experiences and the lives of citizens that were mostly unseen in the eyes of tourists. I was jumping for joy when I received my first GerBnb booking.
I joined the Let’s Read project, which promotes early childhood reading. We have implemented three fairy tale pop-up events in different areas of the Ger district, which was the highlight of my internship. Thanks to the Let’s Read project, I have discovered my love and talent for working with kids and allowed me to connect with small kids. Playing, reading and having cute little conversations with children was so refreshing. The way kids think, their undying curiosity, playfulness and innocence made me wish to make a better life for these kids.
As an intern, navigating my responsibilities and position at the GerHub was the most challenging part because GerHub was fast-paced and had internal changes in the corporate structure. In the beginning, there were times when I did not know what to do and how to do it. I look around, everyone is busy working on their assigned tasks except for me. When I want to ask for help from my supervisor, she seems extremely busy, and I don’t wish to bother her and disrupt her attention. However, I realized that asking for help and communicating was the simplest and easiest solution. I made sure to communicate with my supervisor frequently whenever a problem arose for the remaining time of my internship. Also, while talking to my fellow interns, I understood they were having the same problem.
I will receive academic credit for my internship and will do my research under Professor Daphne Ann Demetry in the Desautels Faculty of Management. The topic will be Community-based tourism as a tool for families to start small businesses.
My internship at GerHub has been transformative on multiple levels. It helped me understand my strengths, weaknesses, and preferences within a professional setting. Working alongside my colleagues, I recognized the importance of aligning one’s values and interests with their career path, as all of my co-workers were highly passionate about their work and its significance to bring a change. Moreover, as a social entrepreneurship minor, this experience has fortified my belief in the power of creating positive change through innovative initiatives.
Lastly, I would like to have this opportunity to thank my donors for making this internship possible. Your generous support has allowed me to gain invaluable practical experience and discover my passion for creating positive change in overlooked communities.
