Maddie Crothers holds a Bachelor Degree in International Studies (Global Scholar) and a Diploma of Indonesian from Deakin University. With a scholarship from the New Colombo Plan (NCP), she interned with Aus4Skills. After her 2-month internship, she reflects on her professional development and encourages Australian students choose Vietnam for their internships through the NCP.
Maddie Crothers, Aus4Skills Intern
Motivations to undertake an internship in Vietnam
Having visited Vietnam in March 2023, I fell in love with the culture, people and place. Vietnam, therefore, was an obvious choice for my internship. While searching for internship opportunities, I noticed that Australia is now the largest foreign education provider for Vietnamese students with almost 48,000 students studying at Australian education institutions. There are nearly 100,000 Australian alumni in Vietnam and they are contributing greatly to the development of Vietnam and the bilateral relations between the two countries.
I then decided to learn more about impact of education has directly on people and communities and how it helps achieve long-term development goals. As a result, I contacted the Australian Embassy in Hanoi and was lucky to be placed with Aus4Skills.
Internship experience at Aus4Skills
Through Aus4Skills, Australia supports Vietnam’s human resource development through various avenues, including the Australia Awards scholarships, vocational education and training, alumni engagement, higher education capacity building, and leadership capacity building through the Vietnam Australia Centre. This internship provided me with a breadth of knowledge of various education initiatives and their functioning.
One of the highlights of my internship was working at a Co-Convenors Planning Workshop event, where I met incredibly motivated and talented Vietnamese alumni of Australian education from various fields. It was incredible to learn about the impact that studying in Australia had on their careers and contributions they have made to their community. They inspired me with their ideas and action plans to build a stronger alumni network that can contribute better to the socio-economic development of Vietnam using Australian expertise.
This internship also introduced me to the multiple facets of the field of human resource development and education. I had first-hand exposure to global education trends and practices, especially the concept of Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI), a key theme of the Australian Embassy’s developmental assistance. My internship at Aus4Skills developed my ability to apply GEDSI principles to all aspects of my work and projects and see its interaction with education.
I learnt how GEDSI can counteract the challenges and barriers that are preventing women, people with disabilities and people from disadvantaged rural locations from receiving an education. I saw the value of GEDSI principles applied through the incredible activities carried out by Australian Awards alumni in Vietnam. For example, KOTO (Know One Teach One) restaurant, a not-for-profit social enterprise led by an Australian alum, helps at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Vietnam gain Australian hospitality certificates.
Maddie joins Australian alumni in a visit to KOTO in Hanoi.
My colleague at Aus4Skills introduced me to a project by Vietnam and Friends, to teach English to visually impaired students in Hanoi. This demonstrates the dedication of Aus4Skills staff and their commitment to education and GEDSI outside of their work commitments.
Maddie supports an English class by Vietnam and Friends for visually impaired students in Hanoi.
Cultural Experiences
During my 2-month internship, I was warmly welcomed by the Aus4Skills team. I got to know everyone personally and had an incredible opportunity to learn in-depth about Vietnamese culture, history and some of the language. Also, Aus4Skills hosts multiple young Vietnamese interns so it was great to connect with young people my age and form close friendships. Most days I would go out for lunch with the team, this had me try heaps of local food including snails and shrimp paste! Hanoi is also a great location to easily travel around North Vietnam, although there is so much to do in the city of Hanoi! I enjoyed visiting museums, shopping, going to cafes and also doing escape rooms!
Maddie joins Aus4Skills staff in Lunar New Year celebration.
Advice for other NCP scholars
This internship is a fantastic opportunity to work alongside the Australian Embassy in Hanoi and to implement Australia’s developmental assistance in Vietnam. It is a chance to learn more about Australia’s role in broader development contexts and Southeast Asia relations. I am so thankful to the Australian Embassy in Hanoi for supporting me with this internship and to Aus4Skills for this invaluable experience. If you are considering applying,
