YouthPhoria UK© The Premier Role Model Edition November 2013 | Page 55

“Never allow your circumstances or your past to inhibit your
growth as a person at all! If you have a goal, dream, whatever –

GO FOR IT!”

psychology rants, let me conclude by saying
business, essentially providing us with all
our ‘made in china’ goods, that they wouldn’t that it has certainly stirred up a desire for
me to do more.
be so shocked to see foreigners.
Working in China as a Marketing Intern
for Astronaut China was an amazing
experience, which has ‘sprinkled gold dust
onto my CV’, especially when I learned
about Chinese business etiquette and
communicating with my colleagues despite
the verbal language barrier. China reinforced the fact that communication goes
beyond verbal discourse. There are endless
amounts of universal gestures, which even
Chinese natives understand. I will miss my
colleagues at Astronaut, they were absolutely lovely and welcoming. However, I
will NOT miss the subway journeys to work,
especially transferring from line 10 to line 1
at Gumao.
China has taught me to be OPEN MINDED
to different cultures. It is very easy to get
stuck in western ways, but I think this is the
beginning for me. I will travel a lot more by
God’s grace, and I look forward to learning
about different cultures. I loved being a
tourist on the weekends! My top tourist
experience was walking on The Great Wall
of China; that was my exercise session for
the whole year.
Being a student of Psychology with a strong
interest in mental health and the crosscultural differences, it was humbling and
fulfilling for me to visit the ‘Beijing Huling
Community Centre for Intellectual Disabilities’
to volunteer for a weekend. 83 million people
suffer from mental illness in China…that
is the entire population of the UK plus 20
million. That’s a lot of people, yet very few
get the help they need. The manager of the
centre told me that there are only 10 mental
health community centres in the whole
of Beijing, the capital of China, with a
population 20 million.

Even though mental health isn’t my main
career interest, I believe there is a lot that
our young generation of psychologists
can do.
Going to China for this internship provided
me with the wonderful opportunity to
connect with other interns from all over
the world, to work for a great company
and to have the experience of a lifetime.”
Since returning from China, Kanayo has
secured a work placement with leading
property agent Need A Property.Com.
Her positive approach to life means that she
always manages to seek out opportunities
that help her to progress. YouthPhoriaUK©
would like to congratulate Kanayo on her
most recent achievement!

If you have been inspired by Kanayo’s
story and would like to find out more
about her overseas experience or
psychology, you can follow her blog at

doctorkanayo.wordpress.com

“Make sure that the goal is attainable
and realistic, and surround yourself with
people who will encourage you.”
you

So with regards to mental health in our nonwestern countries, the situation is pretty dire
and overlooked. Before I go into one my
YouthPhoriaUK

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