u/Then_Tomorrow00

The HORRENDOUS treatment from my school and internship has now affected my grades. I have just been informed that the change in supervisor has not officially taken effect, and my midterm internship grade has been finalised and given by L (the borderline abusive and biased supervisor I had). I can do nothing but rant on this platform as it seems like NO ONE is willing to help and nothing else can be done. I’m not allowed to quit, and there’s also no sense of urgency in effectively removing me from the shitty abusive environment I was in. Wtaf is this system?! Students get ZERO protection and are forced to stay in unhealthy environments because no one is arsed to do the paperwork or go through the processes when I went through every bureaucratic procedure and proper channel to get something to change.

There are two trimesters set aside for a graded internship in my university. In other words, this internship is heavily tied to the school, so the responsibility for the student’s wellbeing falls directly on them.

That being said, my internship has been nothing short of a nightmare that has significantly degraded my mental health and overall wellbeing, being my primary focus, and like any full-time job, consuming the largest fraction of my life. I reported this to the school after two months of tolerating this. My first contact with the school was helpful and sympathetic. He briefly summarised everything I told him to the school’s supervisor (of course the following only scratches the surface of what was basically torture there):

- Workplace favouritism: [my direct workplace supervisor, L] consistently assigns tasks, meetings, and FYP support to [my intern buddy, A] while ignoring [me, M] and the other intern since day one.
- Blocked opportunity: L rescheduled M's self-initiated department meeting, added A without explanation, and blamed M for causing the disruption.
- Public undermining: L put M on the spot to present in front of senior staff (including the big boss) without proper briefing and preparation beforehand, then cut her off mid-way.
- Perceived condescending remarks: L told other staff the two female interns were "still struggling," made sexist comments about girls being "chit-chatty," and muttered that their degree was "no use."
- FYP support disparity: L told M ROYGBIV projects were hard to find, then immediately facilitated a ROYGBIV FYP meeting exclusively for A.

This was hardly the worst of it. I had to endure a vicious scolding (shouting and voice-raising) from L in the office, where he continuously put me down, misinterpreted my words, and attempted to humiliate me yet again. He has also made multiple unprofessional remarks throughout my time with him (like comparing plagiarism to rape). These are a few other examples of things he’s said: ‘Too bad, boss assigned interns to me. I dont owe yall anything.’ / ‘You guys are here for 7, 8 months then fuck off’ / and to A in front of interns, ’If you dont understand, I think the rest hopeless.’

I came to find out he has been biased against me from the very start simply because I had asked before the internship started if it would be against company policy to pick up part-time shifts in my free time.

I have since been assigned to a new work supervisor after being tossed around for a bit after the school’s visit; but the issue now is, throughout this entire process, I have been trying to find out the courses of action I can take and their potential impacts on me and my academic progress, but no one has been able to give me a direct and definitive answer. I have been thrown from my first contact, to the school supervisor, then to the counsellor (??), and finally to the school’s project head, B, where I was met with utter condescension.

The entire bureaucratic process has worn me down, and it feels as though that may very well be their goal. I contacted B wanting to find out if there was an official report I could file (which I feel should have been done a long time ago?? considering the hostile, toxic, and borderline abusive work environment I was in), or if there was anything I could’ve done to maybe remove myself from the situation I was in, or was leaving and completing my internship under a different company an option?? All I wanted was a conversation about all these. I have already conceded to stay a while ago, but I still wanted to obtain the information I was after in the first place.

Well, B was under the impression I wanted to quit. He immediately blamed and attacked me, saying L had told me the job was to find solutions, and it was my fault that I could not do it. But no projects or problems were ever properly assigned to me. I had to go around the office practically begging for work or scraps of tasks. So, solutions to what exactly?

Though it is embarrassing to admit, I turned into an emotional wreck in front of this guy (but I guess this has been my default state for the duration of this internship, having to recap what transpired repeatedly, and defend my position). I tried explaining that I had endured the predicament in the hopes it’d eventually improve, and that I only reached out to the school as I was desperate at that point. I told him my father also did want to come down to the school, or even to the company itself, but I wanted to handle this in my own capacity, which is why we’re even having this conversation. His responses were appalling and outrageous: ‘you can’t be desperate when looking for a job’ and ‘you and your daddy can agree’. Just patronising me and DRIPPING with condescension. I was in a vulnerable state and just felt futher diminished, unheard, and misunderstood. And these were feelings all too familiar throughout this entire exhausting process.

That was my last straw and why I am writing this. Oh yes, he did eventually soften his tone — but only when he realised I had no intention of quitting. Otherwise, he probably would have carried on blaming me for choosing this company and treating me like an incompetent pos.

I guess this is more of a rant than anything else. It has just been so tiring and suffocating, and I honestly feel like I have no voice left. Thanks for hearing me out.