To me, the working part in this program is always not the most important section. I joined this internship because I want to boarded my horizons and see the American culture and how the world is like outside Hong Kong. To achieve the most here, I tried to do two things.

First of all, I try to meet new friends as much as I can, including participants of CCIP and strangers. So far, I have made friends with different nationalities and they all have different backgrounds and their own stories. There are so much that I learnt from these people For example, I met a French guy called Will here, he came here to learn English and meet girls. From him I realized what sociable means, he can talk to anyone! He can make anyone laugh. Another example is a Japanese girl called Konago, who comes here to learn dancing. She came by herself with no friends and relative here. She told me how difficult it was at the beginning with her poor English, people barely understand what she was saying. From her, I can see the passion and determination for dancing. I also learn about culture of their countries when I talked to a Spanish and a Mexican who both live on the same floor as me do.

Another thing that I do to make the best use of the trip is joined New York Cares. New York Cares is the city's leading volunteer organization, bringing vital volunteer support to thousands of nonprofit agencies, public schools, and other deserving organizations.

There are dozens of projects in New York Cares that you can choose from. So far, I had been in two projects. One of them is reading bed-time story to children in family shelters, this is really a big challenge for me as I tell a story in an interesting way in a language that is not my mother-tongue. Another one, which I like more, is to give computer skills tutoring in a Spanish computer center, which is comparatively easier to me and also allow me to talk to other volunteers in the sections.

Tips for future participants are: be prepared:

You should be prepared in both attitude and knowledge.

You should have a correct attitude before joining the program. Make sure you know what the program is for and what you can get from the program, do not have an unrealistic expectation. Another thing is you should do research before you come here and try share it with other participants, you will always find out important things that you have missed through sharing. Be prepared! And you will enjoy the program very much!