Humans of Orchan - Christeen Akkarawatte

Humans of Orchan – Christeen Akkarawatte | AKA, Ms Water

This is Christeen reporting from the Orchan den. I am 20 years old, and approaching my third and final year of university. I study Communications and Media Studies with a specialisation in Global Studies in Monash University.  

Although I very much look like a local (trust me, if I had a dollar for every time someone spoke Malay / Tamil to me or asked me if I’m local– I would be loaded right now…. well, kinda). I’m Sri Lankan, born and raised in Kuwait, been in Kuwait my whole life basically.

Before I get into Orchan, I’ll write a bit about myself. I adore animals (cockroaches are not included please, thanks). I enjoy doing volunteer work for NGOs (non-government / non-profit organisations), whether it comes to helping out senior citizens, writing about women’s rights for my Journalism units, or even volunteering at an animal shelter.

Although I studied Science in high school and have the love for biology, I still had an interest in the Media and Public Relations industry.  It took me awhile to finally decide to switch my course to Communications as even though I do enjoy learning Science-y stuff, I have always seen myself being involved in the Public Relations industry. Hence why, when I began my hunt for internships, I wanted a PR internship specifically.

I started off looking for internships in July 2017. I first asked a former lecture of mine’s advice as I was not sure where I should start. She suggested to apply for Orchan, however her friend had said Orchan does not have an “easy working environment” (We’ll get back to this later). I decided to not apply then, as obviously, I was scared away.

Fast forward to September, I came across Orchan’s PR internship ad in Maukerjah. I thought I recognised Orchan but couldn’t recall where, so I applied anyway. When I received an email from Christina, asking to schedule an interview, I finally remembered where I had seen Orchan from. This is where I asked my former lecturer for advice again, and she encouraged me to go with my gut feeling and here I am, done with my first month in Orchan and I have learnt so much already!

So far, I’ve learnt how to create a proposal for a potential client, brainstorm with Craig and Christina, learnt how to create media clippings and draft a research on a potential client / pitch. And guess what? I have already been to my first pitch, I felt so much pride when I saw the PowerPoint presentation before me, which I had provided the skeleton for as well as some ideas. Even witnessing Farrell present to our client, I could not believe that I was apart of it. I even got to present my own research (!!!!) to the client, which had some information the client himself did not know. I had even attended a Philip Morris media event before the start of my internship, as well as a networking event organised by Telum Media.

Now the question is, is Orchan a harsh working environment? Well, if you are keen to learn, have the ability to manage time, and most importantly know how to manage expectations (you’ll hear this a lot from Craig and Christina), then Orchan is perfect for you, there’s just so much for you to learn!

Till then, this is Christeen, signing off~