I met Karen Wong, the cofounder and communications director of On Air Collective, through the program organised by OWN Academy. She was one of the speakers at the event and I was very intrigued by her work and her words and thus I decided to introduce myself and ask if there was an internship opportunity in her company available for me. Thankfully they were accepting interns [...] Through working in both a marketing company and a magazine/ media outlet I was able to see both sides of the media industry which helped me a lot to understand how this professional world works. By working in a real life company I was also able to gain maturity and become more assertive and responsible of my actions and creative decisions. Through my work I was able to understand a lot of the logistics which go into these jobs which will be very helpful to me in the future.

Royce enjoyed the OWN Junior Summer program [Junior Real World Learning]- he loves to visit architects and other co-working offices. OWN Academy provides education in different spaces, takes children to field trips and allows children to share his opinions. I believe these are important methods to educate new generations. As a parent, I appreciated all children's presentation at the end of the program.

We are so pleased we attended the “pitching” session last Friday.  Not only was it  inspiring to see how much  effort and commitment each team invested in their project, the experience of working together to achieve an end result was also apparent. Each team demonstrated  creativity, flexibility, resilience and strong communication abilities, attributes that feature prominently    on the wish-list of employers of all types these days, as well as being rather useful tools to navigate through life in general.

"I did my first internship through the end of year program at AIS. In fact, I met someone through one of my teachers [industry mentors at the Real World Learning Week program with OWN Academy], that helped me meet someone else, who eventually got me my internship[...] I worked under Andre Kwok, one of the co-founders of the Future City Summit. This is an experience which I can never forget. I was able to meet nearly 100 delegates from 38 countries and learn about their ideas and goals, and have discussions and conversations with them[...] I got a taste of what it feels to talk to people who may not share the same views with you, could be difficult to deal with or just generally are not people you would meet in an everyday situation. Internships are great for utilising what you learn in school and even more useful because you learn things you don't learn in school."

“Interning with OWN Academy has undoubtedly been one of the most rewarding learning experiences that I have had at university. The opportunity to work in such a promising start-up has allowed me to develop skills crucial for the working world and really challenge myself in a way that has been both rewarding and enjoyable. This role coupled with Natalie's contagious passion, energy and unflappable desire to make a difference has made for an unforgettable experience and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity.”

“My daughter took the trip to Cartoon Network and she loved the hands on experience that Natalie was able to provide for her. She worked on a deadline to create a commercial that will air on social media for the Cartoon Network. Not only that, she got to pitch it to the President of the company. This was an experience that many college age students would love to have and Natalie was able to provide the real world scenario to my daughter at such a young age. OWN Academy provided an amazing experience for my daughter!”

“My brother and I are both interested in the medical field. When our father, Marcelo said we were going to study in Hong Kong I almost had a heart attack! I was on vacation in Brazil and I can't say I love school because I don't believe their method is efficient enough and teach us what is to be a citizen of the world. I searched about OWN Academy with my brother and we saw it wasn't a regular school, then my father told us we were not going to be studying with books, but by meeting different people and hearing their experiences and getting to know the inside of the science and medicine field. It was a great experience, we visited lots of interesting places and talked to many different people and the lessons we learned we will sure take them to life.”

“[My children] would accomplish much more if they could experience an innovative form of education, that prepares them for the future in this new world and new professions. I researched for days trying to find a rich experience and fortunately I found OWN Academy and Natalie. My kids are interested in medicine field, so Natalie designed a specific program and they had the opportunity to meet and speak to people that are really changing our world for good. Doctors, researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, media people and many others. They visited leading institutions such as Hong Kong Science and Technology University and Queen Mary hospital, visited many labs that create tomorrow's technologies that will impact the world. This experience unveiled a new world of options and paths that they can follow to be successful as professionals and human beings.”

A treasurable experience to learn beyond the school curriculum for kids

I witnessed this avant-garde approach helped to drive the students' growth, they became a serious problem-solver. They encountered the real life experience by being rejected by many strangers through the street survey, the proposal being banned and co-working in a team with different thoughts. The essence they learnt was from the matrix of how to compromise, maintain team spirits, handle failure and keep refining the works, these are the essential skills to outperform themselves in their journeys ahead.

I see the dedication, the charm of my son from working on the project. The OWN Academy's x Explorium Program unleashed his potential, awakened his critical and rational thinking skills. This is a valuable experience to his young age and he recommended it.

We were absolutely impressed by the work all your young consultants presented last week. One could tell that effort, thoughts and passion went into their pitches. This is to thank you for the quality of your program. Leelani and Adam were well outside of their comfort zone and guided to overcome some difficulties and definitely come out with a few new skills in their tool-box.  We love that they have been catapulted into what is ahead for them, beyond high school; and that the judges and audience did not hesitate to challenge them with real questions.