Vaishnavi Senthilkumar

How Glow and Lovely's Internshala helped Vaishnavi successfully choose her career

But since the pandemic has started, everything has gone online. The distant learning, the burden of fee especially when times are tough. All these things were starting to have a heavy toll on my mental health but thanks to my friend and family's constant encouragement and support, I decided to use this time productively.

Since a very young age, I have felt passionately about fine arts, but somehow I ended pursuing graphic designing instead. It was only when I got the opportunity to work in the field, I realized graphic that graphic design indeed holds my interest. While working there, I also realized that if I follow the path of graphic designer, I can help fulfill my mother's dream of opening a school one day.

Through Glow and lovely Careers portal I found an internship via Internshala, which helped me gain experience in the field of designing. This learning experience I can now use to support my mother's dream of opening a school. It not only provided me the financial support I have been looking for during the tough times of lockdown but also helped me invest my time effectively.

How Internships and Internshala helped young Vaishnavi successfully choose her career

Meet Vaishnavi. This young Bachelor of Design student speaks to us about being depressed, how internships are helpful in choosing a career, how Glow and Lovely's Internshala helped her financially and career-wise... and much more!

Thank you, Vaishnavi, for taking time out to speak to us. Can you tell us more about yourself?

Hi! I am Vaishnavi Senthilkumar. I was born in Chennai. Currently, I am a student of Graphic Designing at MIT Institute of Design, Pune.

7 internships in 9 months. And you did that during the Pandemic. That's great. Tell us more about these internships.

During this Pandemic, there was a depressing atmosphere all around. It was easy to slip into depression...

The distant learning, the burden of fee especially when times are tough. All these things were starting to have a heavy toll on my mental health.

But thanks to my friend and family's constant encouragement and support, I decided to use this time productively. I applied for internships.

In 9 months, I did 7 internships! And these internships helped. It helped me solve my confusion about how to go about building my career.

So how did these internships actually help you?

As a generation, we have many options in front of us today. It is easy to get confused. In fact, I have wanted to be everything -- from being a scientist and aerospace designer to doing something in fine arts, till I decided to get into Design.

But even in Design, there are options such as Product Design, Interior Space and Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Retail Design and so on!

I had thought of doing Product Design, but I found it too technical. So, I was confused.

Internships helped me clear that confusion. I realised that Graphic Design suits me better. I like painting and working on a canvas. With graphic design, I realised that whatever I want to do on canvas...I can do it digitally. It helped me decide my career choice.

And here, the Glow and Lovely Careers portal proved useful.

Through Glow and lovely Careers portal, I found an internship via Internshala, which helped me gain experience in the field of designing.

This internship not only provided me with the financial support I have been looking for during the tough times of lockdown but also helped me invest my time effectively.

It also helped me decide that I want to become a Graphic designer rather than a product designer. It helped me clear my confusion.

You know Vaishnavi, you have mentioned a very interesting point about the struggles of students today -- choosing a career that suits them. Can you share with us the challenges that you faced when choosing your own career?

Like I said, as a generation, we have so many options in front of us today. It is easy to get confused.

Add to that the traditional society approach, which focuses on engineering and medical as good careers. Or even architecture.

This creates a sort of pressure, you know. Not everyone may want to become a doctor or an architect. There are other career options too, which are equally good.

But there is so much focus on traditional careers that sometimes students don't even know about career options beyond these traditional choices.

In my case, fine arts, painting... these were my areas of interest. But around me, everyone was focused on traditional careers.

Career counselling helped me. My parents and I decided to go for career counselling when I was in 11th because all these things were taking a toll on my health.

Because of career counselling, everyone realised that my interest was in Design.... not the traditional careers.

Then my dad did some more research and found out that Design as a career is equally good. That's how I took up Bachelor of Design.

But, I was still unsure.... because at a young age, I felt passionate about fine arts. A Bachelors of Design is pretty different from Fine Arts. Instead, it was only when I got the opportunity to work in the field, I realised that graphic design indeed holds my interest.

Through Glow and Lovely's website, I found a 6-month internship with Prakriti School as a Graphic Designer via Internshala.

My other internships also helped me. I got a diverse experience.

Today I know that Graphic Design as a field has a lot of scope. And there are so many job profiles that I can consider -- thanks to my degree and the experience I got because of the internships I have done!