The week after school started, four alumni from Intakes 11, 12 and 13 came back to share the experiences they had gained during their year in training at Sala Baï and their subsequent professional experiences, with the new members of Intake 16.
“It was important for me to come back today to meet this new generation of students and to give them a clearer idea of the future that will be opened up to them thanks to the training and the hard and soft skills that they will acquire at Sala Baï over the next 11 months. Personally, Sala Baï changed my life in a spectacular way and it’s not just a question of standard of living. In 11 months, I gained confidence in myself and in my abilities. The strength I achieved is something I rely on every day in my professional and personal life and it is important to me to share this!” explains Sarath Chheng, former Cooking student from Intake 12.
Students had the opportunity to put questions to the alumni on their Sala Baï experience, the difficulties they may have come up against, tips for revision, their professional and personal development, etc.
Cheay Krom, Front Office graduate in 2014, said: “During my talk, my first aim was to motivate the new intake and my main message was – your future is in your hands today! Sala Baï will give them the resources they need to acquire a skill and to find a job with relative ease. It’s up to them to seize this opportunity by working as hard as they can and by supporting each other.”
The alumni input was a good way of reassuring the new intake, giving them the strength and courage they need for the year ahead and getting them to realise that they aren’t alone. They can always count on the 1,500 Sala Baï alumni who, like them, arrived from their villages one day in September to learn a skill about which they had no previous knowledge.