Today, the ninth of September, I attended a professional development seminar held in the glass classroom inside of Smith-Steeb Hall. The title of this seminar was “How to Land an International Internship”, hosted by Katie Riczko. Panelists for this event featured International Affair Scholars and their expertise regarding acquiring an international internship. After attending this event, I came out knowing a lot more about what to expect from an international internship. Additionally, I was provided with specific examples on how the IA panelists found their individual internships.
This seminar had a direct connection to international affairs since many of the panelists were discussing their experiences abroad; their experiences included working with foreign governments, international organizations, as well as the state department in Washington D.C. Overall, there was a wide variety of international experiences being presented to the audience. This reinvigorated my excitement towards traveling abroad and pursuing an internship or additional education somewhere in Latin America.
Professionally, I came to this event hoping to learn more about landing an international internship. Although I feel much more knowledgeable on this subject, I still am unsure of the next steps I should take in order to pursue my goal of landing an internship abroad. Unfortunately, the panelists were only able to speak to their own professional experiences and couldn’t provide me with the resources I had been hoping to find. Although this seminar was not as educational for me in this specific regard, I do feel that I left knowing much more about what to expect from an international internship and how to better prepare myself for such a tremendous experience. Ultimately, I was very thankful for having such wonderful IA upperclassmen who were willing to share their experiences with me.