After having completed this work experience and spanish programme, I will have learnt to be more responsible and independent as these are the key features for my self-development, reaching my full potential. I will have achieved this by working on my organisation skills, such as planning my projects – mural decorations of the school. This will help me in future to be able to manage my time better, organise it and thus being more responsible. My fellow staff, my director and most importantly myself will see me, Kajsa, as an organised, responsible and kind person with a positive attitude and mindset.

Furthermore, I will have improved my working skills in the process of the development of my communication skills, such as using the English language in a professional context and also being able to work as a team together with the other staff as I will have worked with principle in order to put team need in front of my own. My creativity will have also been promoted by doing several projects connected to interior design here at spark.

Moreover, I will have obtained cultural awareness and especially appreciation of both Cadiz and El Puerto de Santa Maria by including these two cities into my projects. By this, I will inspire others to admire the beauty of Spain in general, but especially El Puerto de Santa Maria, so that they will say “because of your painting, I realise how beautiful this city is”. Therefore, I will have reached my goals to decorate and paint the school´s wall, finishing my project, and by that helping others finding their admiration for this place.

My fellow students and staff and my manager will have always see me as a cooperative, polite, motivational and positive student who carries out her projects with passion.

Lastly, I will have improved my Spanish speaking skills by interacting with the team, the students and the teachers and especially by living in a host family, giving me the opportunity to practice my Spanish all the time. Therefore, I will have also learnt that I shall not fear failure as without failing, I will not learn.

In general, I will have established good working habits, I will have improved my Spanish speaking and I will have developed myself to reach my full potential.

Kajsa Lenz

During my two months working as Spark Secretary, I will challenge myself to become braver and more confident and will act in a way that will make me proud of myself when I return home. These are my personal “whys” which I will use to motivate and encourage myself throughout my time here.

This personal motivation will fuel my work and allow me to accomplish my professional objectives with passion and excitement, looking after students, keeping Spark clean and happy, and ensuring that all school trips here go smoothly.

I will take every opportunity to learn more about how to do my job well and will take initiative where I can.

I will find inspiration from my past successes and aim to improve on them in future, while accepting that I will make mistakes and that this isn’t a problem if I learn from them and don’t make excuses for myself.

I will be more confident every day.

At the end of my eight weeks here I want to be thought of as someone who was helpful and approachable, as a confident employee, as someone who could be relied on and took his responsibilities seriously, and a hard worker. In order to do that, I will push myself out of my comfort zone, take every opportunity I can, constantly ask myself what I can learn today to make me better at my job, work hard even when tired, and look after myself in my free time so that I can focus on my job when working.

Finlay

My three why´s

1. Improving my language for once working abroad
2. I want to be able to talk to many different people in the future
3. I want to accustom working habits, for using them in the future

After this three-weeks work and study programme in Spain I will be proud of what I have accomplished. I will become confident in speaking Spanish and doing a good job.

I will improve myself everyday by taking on challenging tasks instead of holding me back because of my fear to fail. This could be asking for tasks I think, which could be difficult. And if I fail, I will get sure to resolve it, make it better next time and I will learn out of it.

I also will learn some new work habits and apply them. They can bring me to my aim faster and with less detours than before.

I will stay confident and optimistic in every situation. Even if I don´t understand every word or task in the first moment, I will ask again and then I will work at this task as good as possible and with my new working habits.

But most of all I will be friendly to all the people from Spark and of course to my host family.

My ten power statements

1. I will call it a goal not a dream
2. I will learn out of my mistakes
3. I will improve today, I won´t say I will do it tomorrow
4. I will always be optimistic, even if not everything works well
5. I will be confident in every situation
6. I will not stop, if I can do better
7. I will work with good working habits
8. I will take my chance to improve my skills
9. I will help creating a good atmosphere
10. I will be my own solution

Emma Hohberg

During my work experience at Spark, learning good working habits and improving my Spanish. I want to become better at working efficiently and also overcome the habits that are holding me back from working at my max. Learning Spanish will even be a way for me to practice breaking bad working habits. Here are the 11 things I will do my utmost to achieve during my work experience:

• I will put the needs of work ahead of my own and take learning seriously.

• I will break old working habits and actively practice a growth mindset.

• I will improve at speaking Spanish and become better at understanding it.

• I will make sure to stay on schedule and be aware of my tasks.

• I will set my goals clear on a micro-scale (the ones i can do today) and reflect on them continually.

• I will see every task that I get in a positive way, even if I don’t like it, as I know how important it is to learn to turn negative feelings into positive ones.

• I will distance myself from things that would hold me back on improving.

• I will take on every task that I get with passion and motivation.

• I will be as helpful and useful member of “staff” as I can be.

• I will learn from my mistakes.

• And most of all I will be as nice and cheerful as possible to everyone at Spark and also to my host family.

Gabriel Spaude

Mission Statement

Throughout my six month internship work experience at Spark languages, I know that I will learn and achieve a lot for myself, as this opportunity brings benefits in both professional and personal aspects. This can also translate into a bigger commitment on my behalf, as this means I will be more enthusiastic to do work that benefits me personally, rather than simply seeing it as a job.

I will develop a more open mindset to working long hours and putting in effort to the full, breaking down any notion in myself that I don’t have drive, or the temptation to leave tasks until later, and always being a reliable staff member.

I will also help in creating the nice atmosphere that Spark has to offer, being a welcoming, friendly place to all that come here, and a supportive environment, whether they are working or learning Spanish. Being a more outwardly positive person doesn´t just have an effect on others, but also yourself, so it is as much of a benefit to me as the students I welcome to Spark.

I will also build a stronger professionally-oriented mindset, as working in a business is different to studying in a university. I can already see in the Spark team on my second day that we all rely on things we have done for each other, such as scheduling tasks, communicating important information about one others jobs, etc… so learning to work as an effective part of a team is key goal for me.

I will also become competent at speaking Spanish, as I have never learned another language fluently before, this will be a challenge for me that I welcome taking on.

George Lewington

During my three-week work and study Spanish programme at Spark, I want to work on my personal development and I want to be seen as an open-minded and reliable intern. This statement is going to explain how and what in particular I am planning to achieve during my stay.

I need to be motivated in order to be able to give 110% so I can live out my responsibilities with passion and excitement. Also being motivated will help me to complete my tasks the best I can. This will definitely be useful, considering my future work.

I will improve my ability of interacting with Spanish-speaking  people, by trying to speak Spanish as much as possible. This will not only be beneficial for my language skills, but also be part of my personality, which might open up career opportunities.

I need to have a positive attitude towards everybody and everything I will come across here at Spark, and generally in Spain, to get the most out of my work experience. Last but not least, I want to have a great time, gain lots of experience, get to know new people and a new culture, but most importantly; enjoy my stay.

Rebecca Kanevski

During my three-month placement at Spark, whilst working and studying Spanish, I want to work on my personal and professional development and become an efficient, reliable and valued staff member. My mission statement sets out how I will achieve this, and by reflecting on it, I can take responsibility for my own personal development.

I need to develop good work habits in order to reach my full potential in terms of what I can contribute to the team. This includes becoming conscious of negative and limiting thoughts when they occur to me, and replacing them with more constructive ones. In this way I can push myself to continue learning rather than being limited by self-doubt or blame.

I will take on challenging tasks rather than allowing my fear of failure to hold me back from trying. This may mean asking for help when I need it, and persevering with skills which I find harder to pick up. When I do fail, I will hold myself accountable and make sure the issue gets resolved. Whatever successes and failures I have, I will learn from them.

Rather than striving to carry out small tasks and details to perfection, I will consider how they fit into the bigger picture in terms of the objectives I am trying to achieve. In this way, I can allocate my time and energy efficiently, not spending too much time on less important details.

Chloe Huggon

Finally, through my attitude and energy I will be a positive influence on the atmosphere at Spark. I will approach my daily work, regardless of the type of tasks I am carrying out, with enthusiasm and positivity.

Durante mis siete u ocho semanas trabajando en Spark conseguiré desarrollar buenos hábitos de trabajo que me serán útiles para el resto de mi vida profesional. Esto lo voy a lograr siendo una persona abierta al cambio y que siempre está dispuesta a aprender de todo y de todos para así poder desarrollarme profesionalmente y también crecer como persona. Además, voy a focalizar mis objetivos y para alcanzarlos voy a establecerme pequeñas metas a corto plazo para ir subiendo escalones poco a poco hasta llegar a ellos.

Mi trabajo consiste fundamentalmente en enseñar español, pero también voy a aprender muchísimo de todas las personas que voy a conocer, desde miembros de Spark hasta estudiantes, pues todos debemos valorarnos los unos a los otros. En las clases voy a esforzarme todo lo posible para que mis alumnos no sólo se motiven y aprendan español, sino que también me consideren como una profesora que ha sido capaz de dejar huella en sus mentes o en sus corazones, y esto lo voy a conseguir involucrándome al máximo en su proceso de aprendizaje.

Aprenderé a enfrentar tareas que me suponen un desafío o tareas que aún son nuevas y desconocidas para mí con una actitud positiva, puesto que lo que más deseo es aprovechar al máximo esta experiencia laboral. Siendo así, me gustaría que todos me viesen no sólo como una persona dinámica y siempre dispuesta a escuchar y a ayudar a los demás, sino también como una trabajadora humilde, responsable, comprometida y ambiciosa en el sentido de querer superarme cada día más. Además, seré capaz de tener iniciativa y aportar ideas nuevas a la empresa, y siempre tendré voluntad para aprender y cambiar con el fin de exprimir al máximo mis capacidades y aptitudes.

Cuando esta experiencia acabe, habré podido aprender y conseguir todo esto que me propongo principalmente porque habré dado el cien por cien de mí en todo momento para realizar mi trabajo de la mejor forma posible y para seguir progresando y creciendo tanto a nivel profesional como personal. El conocimiento que ganaré y las habilidades que desarrollaré trabajando en Spark serán frutos de un esfuerzo continuo y definitivamente estaré orgullosa de ello.

Elena Perez