STEP Reflection- Internship Abroad in Madrid

  1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

 

My STEP Signature Project gave me the opportunity to live and work in Madrid, Spain for a small millennial consulting firm. There, I was able to practice skills from both my business major and Spanish minor working on various projects to help companies (both large and small) reach millennials more effectively.

 

  1. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

 

During my time in Madrid, I gained not only a lot of insight on myself and my professional aspirations, but gained a broader global perspective and a true appreciation for other cultures. By working in the professional business world for the first time, in a different country, I was able to narrow my focus and learn more about what I value in the workplace and what type of career I want for myself in the future. For example, I learned that I enjoy working in teams with more relationship focused work, but that I also really enjoy crunching numbers. I gained a variety of soft skills, and especially strengthened my communication skills (both in English and Spanish, professionally and casually). I also became much more independent, navigating a foreign country on my own and conversing in Spanish fluently.

 

Prior to my internship, I had a global perspective, but I had never lived and adjusted to a different culture as an adult. By the end of the summer, I had fallen in love with the lifestyle in Spain and hope to move back for a few years post-graduation. I made some very strong relationships with people in Madrid, and I learned from them that we are more alike that I at first thought. I also discovered, however, that other countries are much more focused on world politics and world news than in the U.S. and while in Spain I became much more interested in global affairs. To this day, I strive to read more global news in order to expand my perspective beyond the U.S.

 

 

  1. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

 

My most noticeable transformation occurred in the workplace. As mentioned above, I became much more aware of what I want in the workplace. I did not get the opportunity to work with a lot of numbers and really missed doing that by the end of the summer. I did, however, get the opportunity to work on a close knit team every day and discovered that this is something I value in the work place. At my internship, I also had to conduct client outreach and was able to speak via email and Skype with professionals all over Spain and Europe (including Belgium, Ireland, and the U.K.). I loved getting the opportunity to meet and work with these people from all over, and these global relations would be ideal in a future workplace. Through these calls and working in a Spanish and English speaking workplace, my communication skills improved immensely.

One of the most influential relationships I had in Spain was with one of my bosses, Irene. She was a very motivated person who inspired me every day at work. Though many view the typical Spanish workplace as laid back (and I know this is true in some cases), my company, being a startup was very fast-paced. Irene constantly pushed me out of my comfort zone, spoke to me in Spanish to help me practice (even when my coworkers sometimes spoke with me in English), and challenged me with new tasks. Her high expectations of me pushed me to become a better professional and a better person.

 

Outside of this transformational relationship, I had many transformational experiences throughout my summer in Madrid. From navigating a foreign to tackling new projects at work, I developed in many ways. Outside of work, I also learned a lot on the weekends when I was given the opportunity to travel to Valencia, Toledo, Barcelona, Seville, and Grenada; as well as Budapest, Hungary; Dublin, Ireland; Lisbon, Portugal; and Rome and Florence, Italy. By travelling to so many different countries, I gained a new appreciation for the various cultures and people I met in each one. Back at home, I am more knowledgeable about these places when it comes to cultural things you can’t learn in a textbook and I hope to visit each city again down the road.

 

  1. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

 

Between strengthening my soft skills and widening my global perspective, this past summer allowed me to grow and develop as a person beyond the walls of my internship. Professionally, I have gained more insight into what career path I would like to take in the future. The new global mindset I acquired will also benefit me in a job setting. Personally, I made lifelong friendships with students from around the U.S. and my coworkers and others I met in Madrid. Each person I met taught me something different that I would take with me back home to Columbus and wherever my life takes me in the future. I hope to not only one day travel back to Madrid, but live and work in Europe full time as I learned to love the lifestyle, culture, and people I encountered while interning abroad. The transition moving back home to the U.S. was not an easy one, and now I find myself longing for two places at once, having a home both in Ohio and in Spain, and missing one while I’m in the other. But I know that I will eventually go back and the experience I had this past summer is not one I would change for anything.

OSU Interns in Palacio Real de Madrid

View from Círculo de Bellas Artes (my favorite spot in Madrid)

Me and my Pangea coworkers at lunch

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