What my Internships Taught me about Fulfillment

Ever since I entered my early twenties, nothing has occupied my mind more faithfully than the question of fulfillment. I constantly wonder whether I did something productive today, whether I ate mindfully, whether I said the right thing, whether I did enough research for my paper, but most of all, somewhere between leaving the office and finding a seat on the MRT ride home, I always find myself asking the same question: Did I feel fulfilled at work today?

Fulfillment looks different to everyone, and at first, I measured fulfillment by how well I did my work. I believed that if I made no mistakes, produced good work and became the intern everyone could rely on, fulfillment would naturally follow. Before I even realised it, I had handed my job the authority to decide whether I deserved to feel fulfilled at all.

So when I landed my first “big girl” internship in finance despite knowing next to nothing about finance and holding a degree in Arts, I believed I had finally found what I had been searching for. I still remember sitting in the reception area waiting to be called in, looking at the company name printed neatly across my lanyard and thinking, This is it. This is what fulfillment is supposed to feel like. 

Reality, however, looked rather different. I remember one particularly difficult afternoon when my supervisor called me over after I had made yet another mistake and gently asked whether I was tired. During that conversation, I apologised for my “careless” mistakes. But I disliked that word because I knew I had strived not to be careless. If anything, I cared too much. I reread emails three times before sending them, replayed conversations in my head, wondering whether I had misunderstood an instruction, and spent so much time worrying about getting things right. I convinced myself that once the mistakes became fewer and my confidence grew, I would finally feel fulfilled. It didn't.

Not because I failed to improve - I did. Over time, I learnt the systems, understood the work better and gradually found my footing. The mistakes became less frequent, and eventually I found myself producing reports, presentations and analyses that I would once have thought impossible. I had finally become the intern I had spent months trying to be. And yet, every evening on my way home, I still found myself asking exactly the same question. Did work fulfill me today?

That was when I realised I had been treating fulfillment like a finish line. At first, I thought it was waiting behind competence. Then it became the perfect report, the perfect presentation or the perfect piece of feedback. Perhaps Albert Camus explains it better than I ever could. In The Myth of Sisyphus, he writes, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” In his novel, Sisyphus is never fulfilled by reaching the top of the mountain because he never does. His fulfillment lies in the act of pushing the boulder itself.

Since then I have moved between internships in HR, Sales and Marketing and looking back on each of them with clarity only time can give, I’ve realised that I had been looking for fulfillment in the wrong places. It wasn’t in the reports I finally got right or the presentations that went well, but in taking on work I had never done before, asking questions I was convinced would make me sound inexperienced, trying to improve processes I barely understood and returning the next morning willing to learn despite the mistakes I had made the day before.

I'd love to tell you that this is how I think every time I leave work now, but that wouldn't be true.There are still days when thoughts about work follow me onto the MRT ride home, and there are still days when everything goes perfectly and I somehow convince myself it still isn’t enough.

Perhaps a few years from now, my understanding of fulfillment will look completely different from what it does today because I don't think I'll ever be able to say that I've figured it all out. But for now, whenever I leave work, I don’t ask myself what I accomplished that day. Instead, I ask whether I learnt something I didn’t know yesterday, whether I had the courage to attempt something that intimidated me, and whether I became a little more patient, a little more resilient or a little more curious than I was the day before. On the days I remember to ask myself those questions, the journey home feels just a little lighter.

Writer: Vidya

Published: 13/07/2026

Note: The information provided is purely for entertainment purposes and does not encompass the views of TWIS as an entity. These are written by our volunteers and showcase their personal experiences and stories. Take what is helpful to you and leave behind what does not resonate.

This is part of a series of articles in promotion of our interactive career exploration event: Careers in Conversations! Hear directly from industry professionals about their experiences and career journeys, engaging in discussions and learning more stories and advice just like in this post.

Find out more at: