My project was an internship abroad program offered through the Fisher College of Business, where I interned in Madrid for eight weeks at MAS Consulting, a global public affairs firm. The staple of my work was to create daily news reports by scanning five major U.S. newspapers, two Spanish papers, RealClearPolitics polling, the candidates’ twitter feeds, and their campaigns’ advertisements. I would then create four news story summaries (in Castilian Spanish), record the daily polling for a relevant political topic, and select campaign media to include in these daily reports. Once these were finished, I had some time to work on long-term projects, which included the compilation of Spanish campaign media dating as far back as Kennedy, a summary of Marisa Abrajano’s Latino Voter Targeting research, and various transcriptions the C.E.O. needed help with.

This being my first time traveling outside the U.S., I expected (and looked forward to) a change in my understanding of the world and of myself. My expectations were certainly met! I spent much of my time working at MAS, but I also spent a great deal of time exploring Spain and participating in additional professional development activities provided to us by We Find Group, the company working with Fisher to provide housing and support for the interns. It was through these opportunities that I was able to meet native speakers and listen to their experiences and perspectives. Though it is worth noting that most of the Spaniards I talked to were young, college educated, and from the city center, I felt as though the people there were very warm and welcoming. In fact, I found myself wishing that such openness could make its way back to the U.S. After actually leaving the U.S., I thought of all the misconceptions I have heard over the years about those living in other countries and have since become an advocate of travel as a way to help everyday people realize the global reality of our world and to break down antiquated barriers. Lastly, I also gained more self-confidence after proving to myself that I could function well in a completely new and rather foreign environment.

The specific activities that helped fuel the transformative effects of this project were largely the supplemental educational and networking events We Find Group offered. Some were intimidating and others challenging, but they became some of the best memories I have. I attended a presentation on the European Union by a representative from the European Commission (before Brexit), a two-day summit on the future of the EU by an academic panel (after Brexit), and two business networking events, all of which introduced me to incredible people, new information, and opportunities to practice Spanish in a professional environment.

The networking events were so transformational that I left them in a state of surprise. Surprised by what I could accomplish despite my fears. Networking, though incredibly important and something I force myself to do in professional settings, makes me feel like I’d rather just stay home. It sounds difficult, exhausting, and reminds me of the times I had to perform on stage in high school. I continued to experience this feeling before these events despite never having a terrible networking experience before. Then adding in the challenge of networking in a foreign language just made it that much tougher. Still, I knew that I should at least try. So I went and had a great time, actually. I met business professionals both young and old, talking to a variety of people while simply being myself. I was even able to speak Spanish relatively fluidly once I started to feel more comfortable. I left the event with multiple business cards and even an invitation to grab coffee with a recent grad and his friend group. This happened in the third week of the eight-week experience, and I was ready for the next one even before I even knew the date. Now that I have successfully networked in Spanish, I no longer dread networking here in the U.S.

The other event that had the most profound transformational effect was the two-day Summit of the Future of the E.U. It was very interesting to hear the different perspectives from a panel of experts and to read the literature they provided us. However, it was the other students I met there who left the most lasting impression on me. I went alone, as We Find Group only had one spot to fill, and was expecting to quietly listen from the back (which was perfectly fine with me). But during the breaks, the conversations I got into with a few others turned into welcoming invitations to have lunch, where I was able to get to know a group of eight other students from Spanish universities. We talked a lot about the global realities facing Europe and the United States, along with personal details about each others’ lives. After the summit, many of us had a late night dinner together in a nearby town and they even drove me all the way back to Madrid since they were also heading back in that direction – all of this completely spontaneous. Unfortunately, this summit occurred in the last week of my trip, but we still managed to meet in Madrid one last time before I went back to the U.S., and we still keep in contact through Facebook and WhatsApp today. After that experience, I wish everyone could have the opportunity to personally connect with citizens of other countries. Their welcoming nature is something I aspire to pass on, and their perspectives of the world have greatly enriched my own.

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of this internship experience and believe I have largely met the goals I set forth before embarking on this overseas journey. The primary objective of this experience according to We Find Group and the Fisher College of Business was to gain global business experience for both résumé and personal reasons. I certainly shared and believe I met those objectives, but also wanted to better my Spanish language skills and acquire a deeper understanding of the Spanish culture. With the duties at MAS, my skills regarding written Spanish increased greatly, as I was reading and writing a great deal of Spanish every weekday. More specifically, the development of my Spanish relating to public policy allowed me to hold conversation beyond the mundane and express more accurately who I was as a student and an intern in Spain. My spoken Spanish wasn’t developed as much due to the nature of my work, but even proficiency is highly beneficial to my professional as well as personal interests as a student of Public Management, Leadership, and Policy who’s interested in U.S. immigration policy. And of course, on a personal level, I feel that my horizons have greatly expanded and that I am ready to continue world travel long into my future.