Student Stories
My experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I was able to work in my desired career field while also learning more about a different culture. While working for In-Addition Communication I was able to learn how to write press releases, pitch ideas, and create communication reports, while also being in a fun and welcoming work environment.
I also learned how to communicate clearly and professionally. Working in London allowed me to understand time management. I learned how to navigate working a full-time job while also exploring a new city. I had never worked a full-time 9-6 before, at the beginning I struggled, however, over time I learned how important a balance is while working and socializing. I loved this opportunity because it pushed me out of my comfort zone, learning more about myself as an individual outside of my college bubble.
My responsibilities at Seen in the City consisted of pitching articles, writing press releases, listicles, and writing product reviews from items I tested. I attended restaurant reviews a few times a week and many times was able to interview chefs and get a behind the scenes look at the London restaurant industry. I also produced copywriting for various companies. Managing relationships and maintaining clear communication was crucial in my job as well. I spent a lot of time on my email, contacting various PR agencies and creating strong relationships with them. Additionally, I was managing the social media for Seen in the City. I posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regularly to promote new articles and maintain reader engagement.
One of my favorite projects was working with artist Sophie Tea. Sophie has over 206k followers on Instagram and a global following, so it was a really exciting opportunity. The task began by communicating with Sophie’s PR and writing a press release for an upcoming art show in London. When I attended the event I was able to interview Sophie Tea and speak about her entrance into the art world. We also spoke about her new collection, “Hearts”. At the event I spent time with Sophie’s PR team and was able to keep them as a contact for future endeavors.
Initially, I had difficulty learning to navigate a full-time job. This internship was my first experience working five days a week. Unlike in school, journalism careers require consistent planning, calendar management and daily deadlines. Fortunately, my editor was very involved and made sure that I stayed on track with articles and events.
The most rewarding aspect of my international internship was creating international connections. There is a certain kind of confidence I gained after my internship knowing that I have a network of professionals in London, who I can reach out to should I ever need industry information. I was thrilled to get the chance to work as a journalist and gain first-hand experience on what it’s like to be involved in the publication industry of a large city like London.
London was more than I could have imagined. Spending the summer (2021) in the city greatly affected my career goals. I fell in love with the city and I plan on returning when I graduate. My internship gave me the confidence that I can work in a big city and find fulfilling work. Also, because I have gained so much industry experience I feel much more prepared to pursue jobs I really want. The interview process feels much less daunting because I have clarity on what kind of work and skills I truly exceed at.
The organization that I am interning with is a tech start-up called Homer. Homer is a home organization phone application aimed at making the lives of homeowners easier by creating a digital home binder in which users can input all their home appliances, manuals, maintenance schedules etc.
I am working in marketing for the company; however, they do not currently have a marketing department due to the nature of being a start-up.
With this being my first internship, I expected to be at the bottom of the totem pole. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. My voice and opinion were valued and more importantly, valuable… I think the environment of Sweden and the diminished gender roles allowed me the ability to feel comfortable in speaking up. Swedes from a young age are taught to speak up, that children and adults are more equal, and that employees and employers are a team rather than a hierarchy.
Overall, I think this experience has opened me up to the business world, given me an idea as to where I will fit and what will satisfy me in my work life in the future. It was truly an unforgettable experience!
I accomplished a lot during these months at Transvision. I can honestly say now that this experience has ended that I feel like I am a different person than when it began. I learned so much about myself, my career goals and aspirations, other people and cultures, and life in general. This internship didn’t just teach me professional skills, it also exposed me to different cultural customs and values and gave me a glimpse into how people live around the world.
One major skill that I feel I developed thoroughly was my ability to communicate in a professional environment. In addition to professional skills such as communication and time management skills, I also developed existing and learned new relevant career-specific hard skills as well, such as with software programs like the Adobe Suite and Microsoft Suite. Most of my daily tasks were centered around projects for the company’s clients for which I used software programs such as Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Audition. The projects that I worked on ranged from creating motion graphic visuals for companies like Microsoft and Spanish bank CaixaBank, to editing and piecing together audio clips to create onboard messages for the Spanish expansion of Italian train company Iryo.
I believe that I will be leaving Spain a much more fluent and cultured Spanish speaker, as every day that I was here I learned something new about the Spanish language or culture.
After this internship experience this summer, I believe I have a much more solid idea of what I want my career goals to be. I also have a better idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are in a career and personal context.
The biggest learning experiences for me included learning to work in a culturally different and professional workplace, organizing my tasks in order of importance and ensuring on time completion, and how to manage working as a team with clear hierarchies. Speaking on working
in a culturally different and professional workplace, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, as I was coming to a foreign country where I didn’t speak the native language. Luckily, everyone at the office was fluent in English so I was able to communicate with everybody without any struggles. In terms of the professional environment, this was also something that I had never been a part of before, but I quickly adjusted thanks to how welcoming and friendly the employees at Airinum were. Although I stayed professional the entire time, my co-workers felt like my friends, which made for a really great experience.
I can definitely say that I accomplished a lot at Airinum, as I reached out to over 1,500 influencers during my tenure, which took a lot of hours. It also took rejecting a lot of influencers, as I probably looked at over 3,500 profiles, so I only reached out to a little less than half of the total profiles I researched. On top of this, I reached out to over 600 different media outlets during my tenure to promote our new Air Mask Active and Crossbody Bag, which were released in July and August respectively.
My career goals haven’t really changed much in all honesty, but this internship definitely motivated me in many ways. I’ve always wanted to start and own my own business, and seeing how Airinum was able to run their startup motivated me to chase my dream even further. I saw the positive work culture that they had and how smoothly they operated. Through this experience, I also learned valuable lessons on how to work in a professional environment which can be tough at times as not everyone gets along with each other in every professional situation.
I’m truly grateful for the experience that I was fortunate to have this summer, I made a lot of really great memories and met a lot of great people as well. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. It challenged me, took me out of my comfort zone, and taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to. I came back to the states hungrier than ever, determined to work harder and create the life I’ve always dreamt of living, doing what I love most, which is business.
I was responsible for launching a project that would promote olive oil sales for the company. I created a project called “Adopt an Olive Tree” which is a restoration project for olive trees in Tuscany. I also created 2 other experience based weekends involving picking from the vineyards, and a foraging walk. Some of the smaller sided tasks I had were photographing the oils and wines and updating the description card for both during tasting.
The most challenging part of my internship was the language barrier even though I did take Italian for 4 years in high school, I wish I was better prepared to speak the language. The most rewarding part was the relationships I built with the other people on the estate. These individuals will always hold a place in my heart, and their culture will be in mine.
This internship has had an impact on my career goals and has gotten me interested in Food & Beverage and Business. I have always had a passion for health and wellness, and after learning about the health benefits of olive oil consistently in a persons diet I believe there is a marketing for tying Health and Wellness into Business. Whether this is creating my own business or marketing for a specific health benefits product I think I will be looking into this career field as I move into my senior year.
One of my responsibilities was to make advertisements and posts for their social media pages.
I went to Italy with very little knowledge of Italian. There were small nuances where I struggled to get my point across. With the language barrier came the problem of where I would be the best fit to contribute the most. The winery wasn’t looking to grow their social media pages which is generally my main focus. Instead they wanted to create a new identity for a historic business. That involved a lot of communication with the winery on what will serve their goal while still moving into a more modern image. However, the fulfillment of finding a new style that worked with the company and learning enough Italian to communicate my ideas was one of the most rewarding feelings.
This internship had a huge impact on my career goals. Ever since I took my first Italian course I had wanted to visit Italy —and Italy delivered on all of my overwhelming expectations. I think Italy is the perfect location for me in the future. My post grad plan is to look for opportunities at advertising agencies in Milan. This year I’m planning to practice my speaking as much as possible so I can go back to Italy with fluency. This internship was an amazing opportunity for me to visualize where I want to be in the future.
The organization that I am working with this summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina is
Momba Studio, a photography studio under a company named vAIsual.
Duties included assisting models during shoots to explain their roles, organizing data files in Microsoft Excel, Photoshop, and Adobe Bridge, digitizing physical documents, scheduled appointments for clients, and posting content to social media.
To summarize some of my key accomplishments, I would have to say that I have learned more about the country of Argentina than I have anything else. Each day I came to work, I did my tasks and whatever was needed from me, but what I took away the most was the adaptation to doing an actual job in a different country and adapting to their way of life. I quickly found out
how casual my office attire could have been, how calm the environment is, and how it contrasts from any type of job I have ever had in the US. I always felt rushed and stressed at my other jobs, even if they were office jobs. This job felt different and I think it comes down to my relationship with my coworkers and the office culture in Buenos Aires.
I think I realized week 5 that my career goals have changed. I want to do THIS forever. I want to work abroad for short amounts of time and allow myself to be fully immersed in a culture. Yes it seems impossible, but if there are more opportunities in the real world that could pay me for working abroad I would take it up in an instant. I have always considered myself a global citizen but I finally feel like I can back up that statement and embrace it. I want to travel the world and learn all about the cultures around me, even if I do not speak the native tongue. This also taught me that I would love to dedicate more time to learning more languages in order to be of better use in the future. I feel more at peace with my future and hope to achieve those dreams.
When applying to this internship I was not exactly sure what I was going to get myself into. All I knew was going to go to Saudi Arabia to do research in a new lab run by Dr. Leena Ibrahim that works with mice and neuroscience. I was nervous but excited. This was going to be an eye-opening experience as it was my first time leaving the country without my family. I wanted to make the most of the experience and learn as much as possible about research at very renowned research campus such as KAUST.
Working in a campus specifically designated for research was a new experience for me. For my colleagues this was a 9 to 5 job that had to be done every single day. It was challenging at first to be one of the first researchers in a newly-opened lab at the University. Some of the challenges were: supplies not being delivered yet, protocols not being optimized yet, and colleagues still learning as you are learning too.
Within just three days I was an expert on perfusions conducting them with no help to keep the pace of the lab going. After perfusions, I was taught PCRs, sectioning, immunostaining, imaging, and cell counting. I impressed myself and colleagues in how fast I learned how to do those tasks. However, what impressed me most was that I was assigned as the mentor for two PhD students that came in during my last month there. I taught them everything I learned. My PI was surprised in how well I could communicate my learning and the steps to them. She was also impressed that I was writing and modifying protocols for the better in the lab.
I still believe that research is not my goal for a career in life, due to my love for dentistry. However, this experience showed me that it is a very viable plan B. I loved my time at KAUST, and I loved waking up to do research 5 days a week. This internship was set up to give you a closer look at how a full-time job in research looks like, and to be honest, I did not mind it. While this may not be the case for all researchers, but I got to do something new every day.
In Dr. Leena’s lab I wanted to learn as much as possible in the 2 months that I was there. I was able to accomplish that and so much more. I got to learn skills not only in a laboratory setting. Having to live in a graduate campus, I was forced to interact with people older than me and adapt the way I think and talk in order to be respectful of them. Furthermore, this all took place in Saudi Arabia which is very different than the environment I live in here in the United States. I had to have an open mind and always ask questions when needed. I definitely came out of my shell when living there, and for that I am very thankful. Dr. Leena asked me to come back next year in the summer to finish some of the research I started and I honestly can not wait to be back there.
I am working for a company called Lexidy. Lexidy has just opened up this branch in Paris with its headquarters being in Barcelona, Spain. Lexidy focuses on providing affordable, English legal services for people coming to countries where they are based or those already living there. In Paris, the lawyer that I am interning for works specifically in immigration law.
As an English speaking intern, my main duties include sorting documents, proofreading documents and translating things from French to English. I am learning about the profession I want to go into while shadowing from a lawyer in France. I have been able to witness her in court talking in front of a judge, giving legal advice to clients coming in and also helping submit documents for someone wanting permanent residency in France. This has been an awesome experience showing me the face to face interactions that lawyers have with their clients and outside of their office.
This internship was a very eye-opening and rewarding experience for me. I came into this experience ready to get away from American corporate culture as well as the polarizing environment that America seems to be drowning in. When I arrived in Paris it was everything I expected and more. It blew past my expectations in every way imaginable.
From my internship I have learned so much about the lengthy, expensive and confusing processes of gaining citizenship in every country. In the same vein I cultivated a strong understanding of French immigration law, another one of my initial goals. This experience has pushed me to be more adaptable and comfortable in the uncomfort. I have had to overcome large learning curves, not ever working with lawyers before in the French immigration landscape. I have had to cultivate stronger and more succinct research skills for information in another language and culture. I have become a stronger student and worker because of it.
This experience has solidified my decision to go to law school. I want to work with clients like my bosses do and help people with interesting problems. This has been my favorite summer of my life and I am so thankful I was able to participate.
Julia Lo
Legal Services Intern in Paris, France
Jasmine Walker
Marketing Intern in Barcelona, Spain
“I was the Marketing Intern for a basketball analytics company, but my responsibilities were not solely focused on marketing. Since I was a part of a start-up, where we had 5 total employees, I was tasked with a variety of projects and responsibilities. I did things from data entry, to graphic design, to creating email campaigns and cold calling. I had the opportunity to really see how the inner workings of a true start-up were done and how real business decisions were accounted for when running such a young company.
“The tasks that I did benefited this company more than I could have imagined. I thought that some of the projects that I was working on were not so important, but what I discovered is that I helped and impacted this company in a big way.”
Lanie Weingarten
Social Media Manager, Barcelona, Spain
I was tasked with cutting out people for thumbnails, creating a children’s alphabet book, and a multitude of other digital tasks involving Adobe Creative Suite.
The challenging parts about the job were creating unique designs for the covers and formatting the inside of books and pamphlets. The company wanted to challenge me and gave me criticism, which I did not get often from school, so it was rewarding when the head designers liked something I had made. They were always willing to help me out.
This experience gave me confidence. This internship helped me out in understanding how graphic designers play a role in certain companies. I am looking forward to a graphic design career, but I am also open to any other design-like career as well.
My overall experience is an accomplishment to me. I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, and with all the positives and negatives over the two months, I am proud of myself for sticking through it and finding ways to cope mentally in another country. I believe the experience itself is the biggest accomplishment, one that many individuals in their lifetime do not get to have. From figuring out the metro, to dealing with work friendships, to dealing with issues in my home country, all were part of an experience that took determination, dedication and strength.
Check out Kate’s internship video below.
At the start of this, my main career goal was to work for a nonprofit and coordinate fundraising events, but now I am more open to other job titles in the communication/public relations/social media field. This whole experience has taught me that I need to learn more about the field that I am wanting to go into.
Overall, the whole experience was rewarding, but at the beginning there were definitely some challenges. Parts that I found to be difficult at the start were things like grocery shopping, laundry and being away from friends and family for that long. I am a fairly independent person as it is, so things like going out to eat or exploring the city by myself weren’t much of an issue. It was more that I have very few people to share those experiences with. Now looking back on it, I don’t think that I would’ve wanted it any other way; learning how to be okay with doing the smaller things by myself, I think has shaped me into a more mature person at the end of the trip.
This whole internship abroad experience has been crazy and, as cliché as it may sound, it has definitely been life changing. Living and working in Singapore has been my first real taste of what life will be like after graduating college. I have been able to learn a lot about myself, such as whether or not I would want to live abroad at some point in the future. In terms of my career, this internship experience shined some light on what direction I want my career to go in. Coming into this experience, my mind was set on pursuing a career in the computer science field. More specifically, I wanted to become a software engineer specialized in artificial intelligence. My internship primarily revolved around this field of work, and thus provided me with insight on what a career in that would be like. This, along with the personal goals I set up at the beginning of the year, really helped me make the most out of my internship experience.
I work for a sustainable fashion wear company called “La Vouga.” As a social media manager I have been in charge of getting a lot of content whether we have a shoot or a pop-up event, my phone is always out and ready to record or shoot content. In addition to being a social media manager I also helped advertise the content.
When I first arrived in Barcelona, I struggled like I have never struggled before. Everyday it was hard to get out of bed and I felt very lost and confused. However, as soon as my internship began, my whole life flipped. I fell in love with my role the moment my internship began.
In life, people are always looking towards someone to rely on, I became that person in my internship. When we would have networking events with brands I became the trademark person. I was in charge of walking around the event and promoting customers to not only follow La Vouga on Instagram but also purchase their products. I think one achievement that I did not include in my original plan is becoming my own boss. Due to the fact that my entire internship I worked remotely, on a daily basis it was my responsibility to check in on my daily tasks and make sure I am keeping up to date on my expected duties for my role.
My career goals have definitely shifted a bit after completing this internship. My job turned out to be everything I could have ever dreamed of and more. I thought that I was going to be doing my internship advertising a brand, which is what I did, but what I fell in love with doing was being a social media manager. This program and internship helped me learn so much about who I am and what I am capable of. I learned so much more beyond the hard skills of being a digital marketing assistant. Throughout my internship abroad, I learned how to network myself as well as a company. I have also been able to make lasting friendships here which I would have never thought possible at the beginning of the program. As I write this farewell letter, I have tears in my eyes because I am going to miss all the amazing people I have met and the unforgettable memories that have been made in this beautiful place that I can now and will forever call home <3
During my time here I was a lab assistant in a microbiology lab. I mostly worked under a postdoc and Ph.D. student. It was under their guidance that I was able to expand my knowledge in microbiology and the scientific process. The project we were focusing on was astrobiology. Specifically, we were looking at how bacteria from Mars grow and survive in conditions similar to Mars. This is one of the first times that experiments have been conducted on bacteria collected from Saudi Arabia. The goal of our project was to see if these microbes could be used as model organisms for future astrobiological purposes.
The summer I have spent here at KAUST has been one of the best experiences of my academic career. I have learned a lot about myself and my future career goals. Over the course of the two months at KAUST, I completed 3 experiments (in the realm of academia, this is a lot for two months). The first one was one of the largest experiments that both the Ph.D. and postdoc have ever completed.
One of the reasons I decided to come to KAUST was to see if I enjoyed research and would want to peruse and career in academia. I was worried that I had an over-glorified idea of what the day-to-day life is like as a researcher. But after the heavy grind of this experiment, I can say that I don’t mind the tedious aspects of research.
I am also proud of the way I navigated and adapted to this new cultural experience. The campus itself at KAUST is very westernized, but I was still in Saudi Arabia. This kingdom had been heavily stigmatized in our media so I was very curious to experience it for myself. Within the first week of being here, I realized that a lot of the notions a came here with were nothing more than western prejudice. Of course, nowhere is perfect and this place is far from perfect, but I loved my time here. The people of Saudi are so incredibly nice and welcoming. Most of the friends I have made here are from Saudi, so this has been a great way to know the place better. I frequently left the KAUST campus to go the Jeddah or Thuwal, and they showed me the best places to eat and go in the area. Every weekend we were doing different activities like going to the Abha, boat trips, and private beaches in Jeddah. This was a great way to experience the culture here.
As I mentioned before, one of the reasons I chose this program was to see if a career in academia was something I liked and want to pursue. Both of my parents got a Ph.D. and were professors so this is something that I’ve wanted to do since a very young age. My parents have never glorified the world of academia and have been very honest with me about its difficulties. After my two months here I can say that I love the challenge that research provides and I can’t wait to keep learning. As of now, I am playing on coming back here to get my master’s degree and continue my career in academia
Since starting at DIGI-TEXX, I’ve been tasked with the responsibilities of drafting, editing, and revising content for the company’s brochure, website, and social media accounts. To keep my supervisor and manager updated with my progress, I set up a content checklist that detailed the completion rate and allowed for potential feedback. On a few occasions, my manager has assigned me research projects to evaluate the credibility of certain industry/outreach events to determine whether participation is beneficial to the company’s reputation and business development… In addition to my continued efforts on previously assigned and ongoing tasks, I’ve been given more opportunities to develop my professional skills. My manager and supervisor have asked me to sit in on internal and external presentations, write company case studies, and acquire event materials.
Courtesy of this internship program, I accomplished stepping out of my comfort zone, gained corporate marketing experience, developed cross-cultural communication skills, improved my Vietnamese speaking and literacy skills, and began more thoughtful consideration of my future career as a business professional. As I carefully reflect on my time as an intern at DIGI-TEXX, I can only recall the experience being positive. This opportunity had led to a transformation and professional and personal growth. I faced some ups and downs related to culture shock, family, and work, but the outcomes made it all worthwhile. I don’t think I foresee a future where I work for a software as a service or business to business company again. However, I’m eager to share and use the past 2 months working and living in Vietnam as a guidance and reference in all my future endeavors, professional and personal.
While in Spain, I had the opportunity to shadow physicians in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurology, Cardiology, and the ICU. Each week I was assigned a new specialty, and each week the entire team made sure to make me feel welcomed, included, and valued every step of the way. I was shadowing at Hospital Arquitecto Marcide in Ferrol, Spain. This is a teaching hospital, with approximately 500 beds, and a multitude of both surgical and clinical specialties. The fact that this was a teaching hospital definitely added to the learning enrichment aspect of this internship, as I had the pleasure of learning with medical students, residents, and attendings, who were all more than willing to discuss the content I had learned during my year of Anatomy and Physiology classes, and show me techniques and clinical applications of what I had learned which was really exciting. Each day I had the chance to feel as though I was part of the medical team; attending rounds, going with the doctors to check on new admits and long-term patients, rushing down to the ER when a new patient came in, practicing how to scrub into surgery, everything I could have hoped for and more. I had the opportunity to watch hysterectomies, rare tumor removals, pacemaker implantations, crucial MRI scans, cardioversions, a few codes, and many more procedures I would love to discuss with students. On the clinical side of things, I had the chance to learn crucial patient communication skills, routine clinical assessments, and diagnosis strategies that I can apply to my own medical problem solving in the future.
Outside of the hospital, I had the opportunity to explore the small city I was staying in, and travel along the west coast of Spain; trying delicious food, swimming in the ocean, hiking, learning about the history of the cities I visited, and meeting wonderful people everywhere I went.
Pre-med students during the summer 2022 quarter in Spain.
Kiana Hosaka
Software Engineering Intern
My internship was in Tokyo, Japan. The company’s product is an iPad application that teaches young students mental arithmetic calculations based on abacus and gamification concepts. As a software engineering intern, my main responsibilities were data analysis and working on the company’s artificial intelligence software. I spent half my internship collecting and analyzing data on student and multi-school achievements and the other half evaluating, testing, and helping to improve the company’s artificial intelligence software. My internship solidified my interest in artificial intelligence. While I am still open to explore various fields of computer science, I am excited for a potential career related to artificial intelligence. My internship also helped me gain confidence applying my technical skills in a real-world work environment and I am excited to bring the knowledge I learned into future positions.
A challenging aspect of the internship was the language barrier and immersion into a different culture. While I knew Japanese prior to my internship, it was a new experience to communicate using Japanese in a professional workplace and live in Japan. My improved Japanese language skills and deeper understanding of Japan’s culture have been rewarding aspects of my international internship experience.
I have gained the type of professional experience that I think will benefit me in the future and have had many great learning opportunities related to my work. Aside from the two events that I helped organize and the meetings that occurred along with them, I have also been able to attend three large summits/conferences, one of which I attended entirely on my own, read and reviewed important documents related to future projects that my company intends to pursue, and translated multiple articles that will eventually be posted onto our company’s website. In being able to attend these three events, my internship organization has been able to connect with potential clients to set up future meetings, as well as learning more information about future innovative projects that will be happening in the near future in or around Shenzhen.
During my eight weeks in Hong Kong, I learned an immeasurable amount about not only myself and my career path, but also about international relations and perspectives on the world. Communication was a major part of this journey as well. It played the key role in how I kept in contact with my friends and family back home, the ways in which I introduced myself and made friends in Hong Kong, and also how I carried myself in the workplace to come across as professional and earn the respect of my employers.
I believe that there were two major challenges at play during these eight weeks, and although they were separate, they definitely had their respective overlap. I believe the real task at hand was to, A, find the best way to gain respect in the work place without overstepping your bounds as an intern, and then B, to find the fine line of taking in and exploring a new city in a new country, while also maintaining ties and communication with friends and family.
I work within the premium ticket section within the company. The premium level is similar to the club levels of the major league sports in the States, but there are no tickets that are sold on a match by match basis. All tickets are sold as a part of a long term contract of 3, 5, or 10 years. Premium members have the opportunity to sell back their tickets if they are not able to attend the match or buy up to four extras for a match using the ticket exchange. The ticket exchange is my main responsibility of my internship. Every day I log into the google form that members fill out to post their tickets and I post their tickets for sale using Archtics. Archtics is a ticket software that will be super beneficial for me to know going forward in my career. I also answer phone calls relating to the ticket exchange, write contracts for members who have just bought seats, and send tickets to their new owners. I also do a lot of “typical” intern stuff like organizing tickets and stapling files. I also assist with match day. I help out at the reception desk and help with any problems with premium tickets.
All in all, my career goals have drastically changed since beginning my internship. I went on this internship experience to see first-hand if the hotel industry is what I wished to pursue. However, I have realized with time that it is not a field that I would like to pursue. I do believe the experience was worth it because I grew a lot as a person and I was able to find out early on that a hospitality career is not for me. I love helping people and want to pursue a job that makes me feel a more profound impact on others. This experience has led me to realize that I should pursue my other interests such as education and psychology, but has also given me the tools, such as patience and confidence, to succeed in whatever field I decide to pursue.
Callie Teague
Virtual internship for Hasekura 2.0, An non-profit organization based in Sicily, Italy
“I primarily spent my time in my internship researching, compiling data, conducting interviews, writing articles and creating websites.
I was able to work on my digital design skills by constructing the early parts of the website for Hasekura 2.0’s various NGOs that I provided consulting services for. I also gained a lot more comfortability with communicating in a business/workplace environment.
I learned a lot about grit, hard work, and time management during this internship. Working with a supervisor can be daunting and overwhelming, but it is especially difficult to navigate some of those anxieties and challenges from the other side of the world. I objectively think that this experience helped me learn a lot about my weaknesses and strengths through trial and error. I have acquired a knowledge of how to adapt when things do not turn out the way that I plan, how to communicate suggestions, and complete work as early as physically possible.
Not only was this experience really helpful in terms of navigating my work preferences and competencies, but it also gave me a real, accurate depiction of in what areas of my life I struggle with managing my time the most.
Coming into this internship, I knew that I probably wanted to start out working for a large corporation when I am younger, and then transition over to working in a non-profit or a B corporation workplace setting. I think that my feelings about this have remained the same for the most part. I have loved my internship and working with social entrepreneurs has been such a rewarding experience. I have, however, learned that I love working in a consultancy setting in which I can marry multiple interests of mine.”
“This internship gave me the deepest impression in my life. Not only that it happened in the special time “COVID Time”, but also it is the first time that I did an internship remotely and worked with the foreigner workmates.
There was a time meeting with the whole group and my boss. I met some challenges which made me in trouble and struggling. After my boss taught me how to face it and using which kind of attitude to do it. I said, ” Anyway, I would do my best!”. He interrupted me and said ” Don’t say ‘do your best’ anymore, just go and do it. As a seller, if you think about plan B every time, you would never get pay for the customers.” It helps me a lot during the rest of the internship.
I am also better at communication, especially in English. Before the beginning of the internship, I thought I was lucky enough that I can use my first language Cantonese instead of English. That’s the main reason why I chose a Southeast Asian company. But the fact is, our task is facing worldwide which means English is still the best way to communicate.
I am clearer about what sports business is and what kind of knowledge I need in the future studying. I was so happy and excited that I found the way I want now. I believe that sport marketing and management would be my next dream in my life now. Really thanks for this chance to internship for Red Card Global.”
As a public relations intern for an international agency, I got to do a bunch of different projects for a variety of clients. From translating presentations for an Estonian professional fridge, to researching media outreach for the islands of The Bahamas, to gathering several hundred news outlets to promote a Korean artist based in Barcelona, I was always doing something new. Something that was challenging for me and a lot of other interns, were the smaller cultural differences that you don’t tend to notice immediately. After a few weeks, I got adjusted and was more able to read my supervisor and the style of how they worked. I’m surprised at how much I’ve learned in a relatively short amount of time, especially since it was all remote. While I appreciate this experience for all it was worth, it’s also helped me realize what I don’t like doing. I don’t have any solid plans for my future, but I know I’m not interesting in going the agency-route.
“This internship has been really great for me as a student and as a person. A few key accomplishments I have identified are: in-depth research skills, communication excellence, time management and initiative.
I learned what effective communication really looks like. My supervisors had very high expectations of me. I love that because that shows they value my knowledge and work and know I can accomplish what they need. However, it was important to me to tell them that I am still an intern. I found this very valuable because it showed me that advocating for what you want is a positive thing. Adjusting expectations so that you can work effectively is very important.
My biggest learning experiences weren’t the skills I obtained but rather working cross culturally. I am learning about all aspects of German life science from the medical device regulation process to their biotech economic impact. I love seeing the difference between the two industry’s based on regional location. Seeing how the biotech industry in Germany works in conjunction with the biotech industry in the US is fascinating. Learning about biotech funding and the amazing innovative ways institutions and private companies are working towards a more accessible future in medicine is amazing.”
“During the beginning of my internship, I supported teachers with lesson planning, supervision, trips, breaktimes and general administration. This was an informative experience on understanding interpersonal relations within the teaching staff, what it takes to be disciplined and committed to the work and how to conduct myself in a professional manner. In addition, this first step enabled me to learn and understand the daily routines of each department and the responsibilities that come with teaching infants or young children. Since we need to be co-ordinated as a whole unit it was a great experience in teamwork as well.
Once I had proved my competency and that I could be trusted with more demanding responsibilities I began to actively led workstations/parts in lessons before eventually planning and teaching lessons all together. This culminated in a “test” where the director of the institution observed one of my lessons and capabilities before offering me feedback and the possibilities of employment.”
“I have the opportunity to be employed as a teacher at this institution after graduation! Since I am interested in education but am unsure about what level to specialize this would be an excellent opportunity for me find out what I want! I’ve always wanted to live in Japan so I think this is what will be next for me!”
Alexander Noriega
Virtual Internship, SB Capital Partners, London, UK
I served as a Financial Analyst Intern for a family-owned private equity firm in London working with various clients from all over Europe and conducting financial research and analysis. I worked on tasks such as preparing and conducting financial research and modeling to Venture Capital outreach and client relationship management and even served as the American Representative for an Investment Platform my advisor started up.
A challenging aspect of this entire process was the ability to work with time differences as well as working in a virtual setting, however, coming out of this program I have gained so much insight into the ins and outs of the Private Equity sector and how important not only the numbers are but how important client relations and communication are.
This internship has significantly impacted my life and career goals by solidifying my dream of becoming a financial analyst! This opportunity ultimately led to a full-time offer as an Associate Financial Analyst at Dolby Laboratories post-graduation and I am so thankful for all I’ve learned these past 8 weeks. This internship has provided me with technical and non-technical skills that I would have never had otherwise, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity.
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My responsibilities at Seen in the City consisted of pitching articles, writing press releases, listicles, and writing product reviews from items I tested. I attended restaurant reviews a few times a week and many times was able to interview chefs and get a behind the scenes look at the London restaurant industry. I also produced copywriting for various companies. Managing relationships and maintaining clear communication was crucial in my job as well. I spent a lot of time on my email, contacting various PR agencies and creating strong relationships with them. Additionally, I was managing the social media for Seen in the City. I posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram regularly to promote new articles and maintain reader engagement.
One of my favorite projects was working with artist Sophie Tea. Sophie has over 206k followers on Instagram and a global following, so it was a really exciting opportunity. The task began by communicating with Sophie’s PR and writing a press release for an upcoming art show in London. When I attended the event I was able to interview Sophie Tea and speak about her entrance into the art world. We also spoke about her new collection, “Hearts”. At the event I spent time with Sophie’s PR team and was able to keep them as a contact for future endeavors.
Initially, I had difficulty learning to navigate a full-time job. This internship was my first experience working five days a week. Unlike in school, journalism careers require consistent planning, calendar management and daily deadlines. Fortunately, my editor was very involved and made sure that I stayed on track with articles and events.
The most rewarding aspect of my international internship was creating international connections. There is a certain kind of confidence I gained after my internship knowing that I have a network of professionals in London, who I can reach out to should I ever need industry information. I was thrilled to get the chance to work as a journalist and gain first-hand experience on what it’s like to be involved in the publication industry of a large city like London.
London was more than I could have imagined. Spending the summer (2021) in the city greatly affected my career goals. I fell in love with the city and I plan on returning when I graduate. My internship gave me the confidence that I can work in a big city and find fulfilling work. Also, because I have gained so much industry experience I feel much more prepared to pursue jobs I really want. The interview process feels much less daunting because I have clarity on what kind of work and skills I truly exceed at.
The organization that I am interning with is a tech start-up called Homer. Homer is a home organization phone application aimed at making the lives of homeowners easier by creating a digital home binder in which users can input all their home appliances, manuals, maintenance schedules etc.
I am working in marketing for the company; however, they do not currently have a marketing department due to the nature of being a start-up.
With this being my first internship, I expected to be at the bottom of the totem pole. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. My voice and opinion were valued and more importantly, valuable… I think the environment of Sweden and the diminished gender roles allowed me the ability to feel comfortable in speaking up. Swedes from a young age are taught to speak up, that children and adults are more equal, and that employees and employers are a team rather than a hierarchy.
Overall, I think this experience has opened me up to the business world, given me an idea as to where I will fit and what will satisfy me in my work life in the future. It was truly an unforgettable experience!
I accomplished a lot during these months at Transvision. I can honestly say now that this experience has ended that I feel like I am a different person than when it began. I learned so much about myself, my career goals and aspirations, other people and cultures, and life in general. This internship didn’t just teach me professional skills, it also exposed me to different cultural customs and values and gave me a glimpse into how people live around the world.
One major skill that I feel I developed thoroughly was my ability to communicate in a professional environment. In addition to professional skills such as communication and time management skills, I also developed existing and learned new relevant career-specific hard skills as well, such as with software programs like the Adobe Suite and Microsoft Suite. Most of my daily tasks were centered around projects for the company’s clients for which I used software programs such as Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop and Audition. The projects that I worked on ranged from creating motion graphic visuals for companies like Microsoft and Spanish bank CaixaBank, to editing and piecing together audio clips to create onboard messages for the Spanish expansion of Italian train company Iryo.
I believe that I will be leaving Spain a much more fluent and cultured Spanish speaker, as every day that I was here I learned something new about the Spanish language or culture.
After this internship experience this summer, I believe I have a much more solid idea of what I want my career goals to be. I also have a better idea of what my strengths and weaknesses are in a career and personal context.
The biggest learning experiences for me included learning to work in a culturally different and professional workplace, organizing my tasks in order of importance and ensuring on time completion, and how to manage working as a team with clear hierarchies. Speaking on working
in a culturally different and professional workplace, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, as I was coming to a foreign country where I didn’t speak the native language. Luckily, everyone at the office was fluent in English so I was able to communicate with everybody without any struggles. In terms of the professional environment, this was also something that I had never been a part of before, but I quickly adjusted thanks to how welcoming and friendly the employees at Airinum were. Although I stayed professional the entire time, my co-workers felt like my friends, which made for a really great experience.
I can definitely say that I accomplished a lot at Airinum, as I reached out to over 1,500 influencers during my tenure, which took a lot of hours. It also took rejecting a lot of influencers, as I probably looked at over 3,500 profiles, so I only reached out to a little less than half of the total profiles I researched. On top of this, I reached out to over 600 different media outlets during my tenure to promote our new Air Mask Active and Crossbody Bag, which were released in July and August respectively.
My career goals haven’t really changed much in all honesty, but this internship definitely motivated me in many ways. I’ve always wanted to start and own my own business, and seeing how Airinum was able to run their startup motivated me to chase my dream even further. I saw the positive work culture that they had and how smoothly they operated. Through this experience, I also learned valuable lessons on how to work in a professional environment which can be tough at times as not everyone gets along with each other in every professional situation.
I’m truly grateful for the experience that I was fortunate to have this summer, I made a lot of really great memories and met a lot of great people as well. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. It challenged me, took me out of my comfort zone, and taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to. I came back to the states hungrier than ever, determined to work harder and create the life I’ve always dreamt of living, doing what I love most, which is business.
I was responsible for launching a project that would promote olive oil sales for the company. I created a project called “Adopt an Olive Tree” which is a restoration project for olive trees in Tuscany. I also created 2 other experience based weekends involving picking from the vineyards, and a foraging walk. Some of the smaller sided tasks I had were photographing the oils and wines and updating the description card for both during tasting.
The most challenging part of my internship was the language barrier even though I did take Italian for 4 years in high school, I wish I was better prepared to speak the language. The most rewarding part was the relationships I built with the other people on the estate. These individuals will always hold a place in my heart, and their culture will be in mine.
This internship has had an impact on my career goals and has gotten me interested in Food & Beverage and Business. I have always had a passion for health and wellness, and after learning about the health benefits of olive oil consistently in a persons diet I believe there is a marketing for tying Health and Wellness into Business. Whether this is creating my own business or marketing for a specific health benefits product I think I will be looking into this career field as I move into my senior year.
One of my responsibilities was to make advertisements and posts for their social media pages.
I went to Italy with very little knowledge of Italian. There were small nuances where I struggled to get my point across. With the language barrier came the problem of where I would be the best fit to contribute the most. The winery wasn’t looking to grow their social media pages which is generally my main focus. Instead they wanted to create a new identity for a historic business. That involved a lot of communication with the winery on what will serve their goal while still moving into a more modern image. However, the fulfillment of finding a new style that worked with the company and learning enough Italian to communicate my ideas was one of the most rewarding feelings.
This internship had a huge impact on my career goals. Ever since I took my first Italian course I had wanted to visit Italy —and Italy delivered on all of my overwhelming expectations. I think Italy is the perfect location for me in the future. My post grad plan is to look for opportunities at advertising agencies in Milan. This year I’m planning to practice my speaking as much as possible so I can go back to Italy with fluency. This internship was an amazing opportunity for me to visualize where I want to be in the future.
The organization that I am working with this summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina is
Momba Studio, a photography studio under a company named vAIsual.
Duties included assisting models during shoots to explain their roles, organizing data files in Microsoft Excel, Photoshop, and Adobe Bridge, digitizing physical documents, scheduled appointments for clients, and posting content to social media.
To summarize some of my key accomplishments, I would have to say that I have learned more about the country of Argentina than I have anything else. Each day I came to work, I did my tasks and whatever was needed from me, but what I took away the most was the adaptation to doing an actual job in a different country and adapting to their way of life. I quickly found out
how casual my office attire could have been, how calm the environment is, and how it contrasts from any type of job I have ever had in the US. I always felt rushed and stressed at my other jobs, even if they were office jobs. This job felt different and I think it comes down to my relationship with my coworkers and the office culture in Buenos Aires.
I think I realized week 5 that my career goals have changed. I want to do THIS forever. I want to work abroad for short amounts of time and allow myself to be fully immersed in a culture. Yes it seems impossible, but if there are more opportunities in the real world that could pay me for working abroad I would take it up in an instant. I have always considered myself a global citizen but I finally feel like I can back up that statement and embrace it. I want to travel the world and learn all about the cultures around me, even if I do not speak the native tongue. This also taught me that I would love to dedicate more time to learning more languages in order to be of better use in the future. I feel more at peace with my future and hope to achieve those dreams.
When applying to this internship I was not exactly sure what I was going to get myself into. All I knew was going to go to Saudi Arabia to do research in a new lab run by Dr. Leena Ibrahim that works with mice and neuroscience. I was nervous but excited. This was going to be an eye-opening experience as it was my first time leaving the country without my family. I wanted to make the most of the experience and learn as much as possible about research at very renowned research campus such as KAUST.
Working in a campus specifically designated for research was a new experience for me. For my colleagues this was a 9 to 5 job that had to be done every single day. It was challenging at first to be one of the first researchers in a newly-opened lab at the University. Some of the challenges were: supplies not being delivered yet, protocols not being optimized yet, and colleagues still learning as you are learning too.
Within just three days I was an expert on perfusions conducting them with no help to keep the pace of the lab going. After perfusions, I was taught PCRs, sectioning, immunostaining, imaging, and cell counting. I impressed myself and colleagues in how fast I learned how to do those tasks. However, what impressed me most was that I was assigned as the mentor for two PhD students that came in during my last month there. I taught them everything I learned. My PI was surprised in how well I could communicate my learning and the steps to them. She was also impressed that I was writing and modifying protocols for the better in the lab.
I still believe that research is not my goal for a career in life, due to my love for dentistry. However, this experience showed me that it is a very viable plan B. I loved my time at KAUST, and I loved waking up to do research 5 days a week. This internship was set up to give you a closer look at how a full-time job in research looks like, and to be honest, I did not mind it. While this may not be the case for all researchers, but I got to do something new every day.
In Dr. Leena’s lab I wanted to learn as much as possible in the 2 months that I was there. I was able to accomplish that and so much more. I got to learn skills not only in a laboratory setting. Having to live in a graduate campus, I was forced to interact with people older than me and adapt the way I think and talk in order to be respectful of them. Furthermore, this all took place in Saudi Arabia which is very different than the environment I live in here in the United States. I had to have an open mind and always ask questions when needed. I definitely came out of my shell when living there, and for that I am very thankful. Dr. Leena asked me to come back next year in the summer to finish some of the research I started and I honestly can not wait to be back there.
I am working for a company called Lexidy. Lexidy has just opened up this branch in Paris with its headquarters being in Barcelona, Spain. Lexidy focuses on providing affordable, English legal services for people coming to countries where they are based or those already living there. In Paris, the lawyer that I am interning for works specifically in immigration law.
As an English speaking intern, my main duties include sorting documents, proofreading documents and translating things from French to English. I am learning about the profession I want to go into while shadowing from a lawyer in France. I have been able to witness her in court talking in front of a judge, giving legal advice to clients coming in and also helping submit documents for someone wanting permanent residency in France. This has been an awesome experience showing me the face to face interactions that lawyers have with their clients and outside of their office.
This internship was a very eye-opening and rewarding experience for me. I came into this experience ready to get away from American corporate culture as well as the polarizing environment that America seems to be drowning in. When I arrived in Paris it was everything I expected and more. It blew past my expectations in every way imaginable.
From my internship I have learned so much about the lengthy, expensive and confusing processes of gaining citizenship in every country. In the same vein I cultivated a strong understanding of French immigration law, another one of my initial goals. This experience has pushed me to be more adaptable and comfortable in the uncomfort. I have had to overcome large learning curves, not ever working with lawyers before in the French immigration landscape. I have had to cultivate stronger and more succinct research skills for information in another language and culture. I have become a stronger student and worker because of it.
This experience has solidified my decision to go to law school. I want to work with clients like my bosses do and help people with interesting problems. This has been my favorite summer of my life and I am so thankful I was able to participate.
Julia Lo
Legal Services Intern in Paris, France
Jasmine Walker
Marketing Intern in Barcelona, Spain
“I was the Marketing Intern for a basketball analytics company, but my responsibilities were not solely focused on marketing. Since I was a part of a start-up, where we had 5 total employees, I was tasked with a variety of projects and responsibilities. I did things from data entry, to graphic design, to creating email campaigns and cold calling. I had the opportunity to really see how the inner workings of a true start-up were done and how real business decisions were accounted for when running such a young company.
“The tasks that I did benefited this company more than I could have imagined. I thought that some of the projects that I was working on were not so important, but what I discovered is that I helped and impacted this company in a big way.”
Lanie Weingarten
Social Media Manager, Barcelona, Spain
I was tasked with cutting out people for thumbnails, creating a children’s alphabet book, and a multitude of other digital tasks involving Adobe Creative Suite.
The challenging parts about the job were creating unique designs for the covers and formatting the inside of books and pamphlets. The company wanted to challenge me and gave me criticism, which I did not get often from school, so it was rewarding when the head designers liked something I had made. They were always willing to help me out.
This experience gave me confidence. This internship helped me out in understanding how graphic designers play a role in certain companies. I am looking forward to a graphic design career, but I am also open to any other design-like career as well.
My overall experience is an accomplishment to me. I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, and with all the positives and negatives over the two months, I am proud of myself for sticking through it and finding ways to cope mentally in another country. I believe the experience itself is the biggest accomplishment, one that many individuals in their lifetime do not get to have. From figuring out the metro, to dealing with work friendships, to dealing with issues in my home country, all were part of an experience that took determination, dedication and strength.
Check out Kate’s internship video below.
At the start of this, my main career goal was to work for a nonprofit and coordinate fundraising events, but now I am more open to other job titles in the communication/public relations/social media field. This whole experience has taught me that I need to learn more about the field that I am wanting to go into.
Overall, the whole experience was rewarding, but at the beginning there were definitely some challenges. Parts that I found to be difficult at the start were things like grocery shopping, laundry and being away from friends and family for that long. I am a fairly independent person as it is, so things like going out to eat or exploring the city by myself weren’t much of an issue. It was more that I have very few people to share those experiences with. Now looking back on it, I don’t think that I would’ve wanted it any other way; learning how to be okay with doing the smaller things by myself, I think has shaped me into a more mature person at the end of the trip.
This whole internship abroad experience has been crazy and, as cliché as it may sound, it has definitely been life changing. Living and working in Singapore has been my first real taste of what life will be like after graduating college. I have been able to learn a lot about myself, such as whether or not I would want to live abroad at some point in the future. In terms of my career, this internship experience shined some light on what direction I want my career to go in. Coming into this experience, my mind was set on pursuing a career in the computer science field. More specifically, I wanted to become a software engineer specialized in artificial intelligence. My internship primarily revolved around this field of work, and thus provided me with insight on what a career in that would be like. This, along with the personal goals I set up at the beginning of the year, really helped me make the most out of my internship experience.
I work for a sustainable fashion wear company called “La Vouga.” As a social media manager I have been in charge of getting a lot of content whether we have a shoot or a pop-up event, my phone is always out and ready to record or shoot content. In addition to being a social media manager I also helped advertise the content.
When I first arrived in Barcelona, I struggled like I have never struggled before. Everyday it was hard to get out of bed and I felt very lost and confused. However, as soon as my internship began, my whole life flipped. I fell in love with my role the moment my internship began.
In life, people are always looking towards someone to rely on, I became that person in my internship. When we would have networking events with brands I became the trademark person. I was in charge of walking around the event and promoting customers to not only follow La Vouga on Instagram but also purchase their products. I think one achievement that I did not include in my original plan is becoming my own boss. Due to the fact that my entire internship I worked remotely, on a daily basis it was my responsibility to check in on my daily tasks and make sure I am keeping up to date on my expected duties for my role.
My career goals have definitely shifted a bit after completing this internship. My job turned out to be everything I could have ever dreamed of and more. I thought that I was going to be doing my internship advertising a brand, which is what I did, but what I fell in love with doing was being a social media manager. This program and internship helped me learn so much about who I am and what I am capable of. I learned so much more beyond the hard skills of being a digital marketing assistant. Throughout my internship abroad, I learned how to network myself as well as a company. I have also been able to make lasting friendships here which I would have never thought possible at the beginning of the program. As I write this farewell letter, I have tears in my eyes because I am going to miss all the amazing people I have met and the unforgettable memories that have been made in this beautiful place that I can now and will forever call home <3
During my time here I was a lab assistant in a microbiology lab. I mostly worked under a postdoc and Ph.D. student. It was under their guidance that I was able to expand my knowledge in microbiology and the scientific process. The project we were focusing on was astrobiology. Specifically, we were looking at how bacteria from Mars grow and survive in conditions similar to Mars. This is one of the first times that experiments have been conducted on bacteria collected from Saudi Arabia. The goal of our project was to see if these microbes could be used as model organisms for future astrobiological purposes.
The summer I have spent here at KAUST has been one of the best experiences of my academic career. I have learned a lot about myself and my future career goals. Over the course of the two months at KAUST, I completed 3 experiments (in the realm of academia, this is a lot for two months). The first one was one of the largest experiments that both the Ph.D. and postdoc have ever completed.
One of the reasons I decided to come to KAUST was to see if I enjoyed research and would want to peruse and career in academia. I was worried that I had an over-glorified idea of what the day-to-day life is like as a researcher. But after the heavy grind of this experiment, I can say that I don’t mind the tedious aspects of research.
I am also proud of the way I navigated and adapted to this new cultural experience. The campus itself at KAUST is very westernized, but I was still in Saudi Arabia. This kingdom had been heavily stigmatized in our media so I was very curious to experience it for myself. Within the first week of being here, I realized that a lot of the notions a came here with were nothing more than western prejudice. Of course, nowhere is perfect and this place is far from perfect, but I loved my time here. The people of Saudi are so incredibly nice and welcoming. Most of the friends I have made here are from Saudi, so this has been a great way to know the place better. I frequently left the KAUST campus to go the Jeddah or Thuwal, and they showed me the best places to eat and go in the area. Every weekend we were doing different activities like going to the Abha, boat trips, and private beaches in Jeddah. This was a great way to experience the culture here.
As I mentioned before, one of the reasons I chose this program was to see if a career in academia was something I liked and want to pursue. Both of my parents got a Ph.D. and were professors so this is something that I’ve wanted to do since a very young age. My parents have never glorified the world of academia and have been very honest with me about its difficulties. After my two months here I can say that I love the challenge that research provides and I can’t wait to keep learning. As of now, I am playing on coming back here to get my master’s degree and continue my career in academia
Since starting at DIGI-TEXX, I’ve been tasked with the responsibilities of drafting, editing, and revising content for the company’s brochure, website, and social media accounts. To keep my supervisor and manager updated with my progress, I set up a content checklist that detailed the completion rate and allowed for potential feedback. On a few occasions, my manager has assigned me research projects to evaluate the credibility of certain industry/outreach events to determine whether participation is beneficial to the company’s reputation and business development… In addition to my continued efforts on previously assigned and ongoing tasks, I’ve been given more opportunities to develop my professional skills. My manager and supervisor have asked me to sit in on internal and external presentations, write company case studies, and acquire event materials.
Courtesy of this internship program, I accomplished stepping out of my comfort zone, gained corporate marketing experience, developed cross-cultural communication skills, improved my Vietnamese speaking and literacy skills, and began more thoughtful consideration of my future career as a business professional. As I carefully reflect on my time as an intern at DIGI-TEXX, I can only recall the experience being positive. This opportunity had led to a transformation and professional and personal growth. I faced some ups and downs related to culture shock, family, and work, but the outcomes made it all worthwhile. I don’t think I foresee a future where I work for a software as a service or business to business company again. However, I’m eager to share and use the past 2 months working and living in Vietnam as a guidance and reference in all my future endeavors, professional and personal.
While in Spain, I had the opportunity to shadow physicians in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurology, Cardiology, and the ICU. Each week I was assigned a new specialty, and each week the entire team made sure to make me feel welcomed, included, and valued every step of the way. I was shadowing at Hospital Arquitecto Marcide in Ferrol, Spain. This is a teaching hospital, with approximately 500 beds, and a multitude of both surgical and clinical specialties. The fact that this was a teaching hospital definitely added to the learning enrichment aspect of this internship, as I had the pleasure of learning with medical students, residents, and attendings, who were all more than willing to discuss the content I had learned during my year of Anatomy and Physiology classes, and show me techniques and clinical applications of what I had learned which was really exciting. Each day I had the chance to feel as though I was part of the medical team; attending rounds, going with the doctors to check on new admits and long-term patients, rushing down to the ER when a new patient came in, practicing how to scrub into surgery, everything I could have hoped for and more. I had the opportunity to watch hysterectomies, rare tumor removals, pacemaker implantations, crucial MRI scans, cardioversions, a few codes, and many more procedures I would love to discuss with students. On the clinical side of things, I had the chance to learn crucial patient communication skills, routine clinical assessments, and diagnosis strategies that I can apply to my own medical problem solving in the future.
Outside of the hospital, I had the opportunity to explore the small city I was staying in, and travel along the west coast of Spain; trying delicious food, swimming in the ocean, hiking, learning about the history of the cities I visited, and meeting wonderful people everywhere I went.
Pre-med students during the summer 2022 quarter in Spain.
Kiana Hosaka
Software Engineering Intern
My internship was in Tokyo, Japan. The company’s product is an iPad application that teaches young students mental arithmetic calculations based on abacus and gamification concepts. As a software engineering intern, my main responsibilities were data analysis and working on the company’s artificial intelligence software. I spent half my internship collecting and analyzing data on student and multi-school achievements and the other half evaluating, testing, and helping to improve the company’s artificial intelligence software. My internship solidified my interest in artificial intelligence. While I am still open to explore various fields of computer science, I am excited for a potential career related to artificial intelligence. My internship also helped me gain confidence applying my technical skills in a real-world work environment and I am excited to bring the knowledge I learned into future positions.
A challenging aspect of the internship was the language barrier and immersion into a different culture. While I knew Japanese prior to my internship, it was a new experience to communicate using Japanese in a professional workplace and live in Japan. My improved Japanese language skills and deeper understanding of Japan’s culture have been rewarding aspects of my international internship experience.
I have gained the type of professional experience that I think will benefit me in the future and have had many great learning opportunities related to my work. Aside from the two events that I helped organize and the meetings that occurred along with them, I have also been able to attend three large summits/conferences, one of which I attended entirely on my own, read and reviewed important documents related to future projects that my company intends to pursue, and translated multiple articles that will eventually be posted onto our company’s website. In being able to attend these three events, my internship organization has been able to connect with potential clients to set up future meetings, as well as learning more information about future innovative projects that will be happening in the near future in or around Shenzhen.
During my eight weeks in Hong Kong, I learned an immeasurable amount about not only myself and my career path, but also about international relations and perspectives on the world. Communication was a major part of this journey as well. It played the key role in how I kept in contact with my friends and family back home, the ways in which I introduced myself and made friends in Hong Kong, and also how I carried myself in the workplace to come across as professional and earn the respect of my employers.
I believe that there were two major challenges at play during these eight weeks, and although they were separate, they definitely had their respective overlap. I believe the real task at hand was to, A, find the best way to gain respect in the work place without overstepping your bounds as an intern, and then B, to find the fine line of taking in and exploring a new city in a new country, while also maintaining ties and communication with friends and family.
I work within the premium ticket section within the company. The premium level is similar to the club levels of the major league sports in the States, but there are no tickets that are sold on a match by match basis. All tickets are sold as a part of a long term contract of 3, 5, or 10 years. Premium members have the opportunity to sell back their tickets if they are not able to attend the match or buy up to four extras for a match using the ticket exchange. The ticket exchange is my main responsibility of my internship. Every day I log into the google form that members fill out to post their tickets and I post their tickets for sale using Archtics. Archtics is a ticket software that will be super beneficial for me to know going forward in my career. I also answer phone calls relating to the ticket exchange, write contracts for members who have just bought seats, and send tickets to their new owners. I also do a lot of “typical” intern stuff like organizing tickets and stapling files. I also assist with match day. I help out at the reception desk and help with any problems with premium tickets.
All in all, my career goals have drastically changed since beginning my internship. I went on this internship experience to see first-hand if the hotel industry is what I wished to pursue. However, I have realized with time that it is not a field that I would like to pursue. I do believe the experience was worth it because I grew a lot as a person and I was able to find out early on that a hospitality career is not for me. I love helping people and want to pursue a job that makes me feel a more profound impact on others. This experience has led me to realize that I should pursue my other interests such as education and psychology, but has also given me the tools, such as patience and confidence, to succeed in whatever field I decide to pursue.
Callie Teague
Virtual internship for Hasekura 2.0, An non-profit organization based in Sicily, Italy
“I primarily spent my time in my internship researching, compiling data, conducting interviews, writing articles and creating websites.
I was able to work on my digital design skills by constructing the early parts of the website for Hasekura 2.0’s various NGOs that I provided consulting services for. I also gained a lot more comfortability with communicating in a business/workplace environment.
I learned a lot about grit, hard work, and time management during this internship. Working with a supervisor can be daunting and overwhelming, but it is especially difficult to navigate some of those anxieties and challenges from the other side of the world. I objectively think that this experience helped me learn a lot about my weaknesses and strengths through trial and error. I have acquired a knowledge of how to adapt when things do not turn out the way that I plan, how to communicate suggestions, and complete work as early as physically possible.
Not only was this experience really helpful in terms of navigating my work preferences and competencies, but it also gave me a real, accurate depiction of in what areas of my life I struggle with managing my time the most.
Coming into this internship, I knew that I probably wanted to start out working for a large corporation when I am younger, and then transition over to working in a non-profit or a B corporation workplace setting. I think that my feelings about this have remained the same for the most part. I have loved my internship and working with social entrepreneurs has been such a rewarding experience. I have, however, learned that I love working in a consultancy setting in which I can marry multiple interests of mine.”
“This internship gave me the deepest impression in my life. Not only that it happened in the special time “COVID Time”, but also it is the first time that I did an internship remotely and worked with the foreigner workmates.
There was a time meeting with the whole group and my boss. I met some challenges which made me in trouble and struggling. After my boss taught me how to face it and using which kind of attitude to do it. I said, ” Anyway, I would do my best!”. He interrupted me and said ” Don’t say ‘do your best’ anymore, just go and do it. As a seller, if you think about plan B every time, you would never get pay for the customers.” It helps me a lot during the rest of the internship.
I am also better at communication, especially in English. Before the beginning of the internship, I thought I was lucky enough that I can use my first language Cantonese instead of English. That’s the main reason why I chose a Southeast Asian company. But the fact is, our task is facing worldwide which means English is still the best way to communicate.
I am clearer about what sports business is and what kind of knowledge I need in the future studying. I was so happy and excited that I found the way I want now. I believe that sport marketing and management would be my next dream in my life now. Really thanks for this chance to internship for Red Card Global.”
As a public relations intern for an international agency, I got to do a bunch of different projects for a variety of clients. From translating presentations for an Estonian professional fridge, to researching media outreach for the islands of The Bahamas, to gathering several hundred news outlets to promote a Korean artist based in Barcelona, I was always doing something new. Something that was challenging for me and a lot of other interns, were the smaller cultural differences that you don’t tend to notice immediately. After a few weeks, I got adjusted and was more able to read my supervisor and the style of how they worked. I’m surprised at how much I’ve learned in a relatively short amount of time, especially since it was all remote. While I appreciate this experience for all it was worth, it’s also helped me realize what I don’t like doing. I don’t have any solid plans for my future, but I know I’m not interesting in going the agency-route.
“This internship has been really great for me as a student and as a person. A few key accomplishments I have identified are: in-depth research skills, communication excellence, time management and initiative.
I learned what effective communication really looks like. My supervisors had very high expectations of me. I love that because that shows they value my knowledge and work and know I can accomplish what they need. However, it was important to me to tell them that I am still an intern. I found this very valuable because it showed me that advocating for what you want is a positive thing. Adjusting expectations so that you can work effectively is very important.
My biggest learning experiences weren’t the skills I obtained but rather working cross culturally. I am learning about all aspects of German life science from the medical device regulation process to their biotech economic impact. I love seeing the difference between the two industry’s based on regional location. Seeing how the biotech industry in Germany works in conjunction with the biotech industry in the US is fascinating. Learning about biotech funding and the amazing innovative ways institutions and private companies are working towards a more accessible future in medicine is amazing.”
“During the beginning of my internship, I supported teachers with lesson planning, supervision, trips, breaktimes and general administration. This was an informative experience on understanding interpersonal relations within the teaching staff, what it takes to be disciplined and committed to the work and how to conduct myself in a professional manner. In addition, this first step enabled me to learn and understand the daily routines of each department and the responsibilities that come with teaching infants or young children. Since we need to be co-ordinated as a whole unit it was a great experience in teamwork as well.
Once I had proved my competency and that I could be trusted with more demanding responsibilities I began to actively led workstations/parts in lessons before eventually planning and teaching lessons all together. This culminated in a “test” where the director of the institution observed one of my lessons and capabilities before offering me feedback and the possibilities of employment.”
“I have the opportunity to be employed as a teacher at this institution after graduation! Since I am interested in education but am unsure about what level to specialize this would be an excellent opportunity for me find out what I want! I’ve always wanted to live in Japan so I think this is what will be next for me!”
Alexander Noriega
Virtual Internship, SB Capital Partners, London, UK
I served as a Financial Analyst Intern for a family-owned private equity firm in London working with various clients from all over Europe and conducting financial research and analysis. I worked on tasks such as preparing and conducting financial research and modeling to Venture Capital outreach and client relationship management and even served as the American Representative for an Investment Platform my advisor started up.
A challenging aspect of this entire process was the ability to work with time differences as well as working in a virtual setting, however, coming out of this program I have gained so much insight into the ins and outs of the Private Equity sector and how important not only the numbers are but how important client relations and communication are.
This internship has significantly impacted my life and career goals by solidifying my dream of becoming a financial analyst! This opportunity ultimately led to a full-time offer as an Associate Financial Analyst at Dolby Laboratories post-graduation and I am so thankful for all I’ve learned these past 8 weeks. This internship has provided me with technical and non-technical skills that I would have never had otherwise, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity.
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