How to Get the Internship You Want as an International Student

“Why doesn’t anyone want to hire me?”

This is a question that crosses the minds of many international and non-international students alike throughout college.

While college is a unique time to explore different interests, meet diverse groups of people and prepare ourselves for the ever-evolving workforce, we live in a society that continuously demands for more. Better grades, better test scores, better extracurricular activities and better work experience.

Better and more of everything.

Ecuador: Radiating Gratitude

I have observed a different world in just two months of working at a small ecotourism agency, and living completely immersed in the culture of Ecuador. The most important thing I’ve learned is to appreciate the small things.

A mentality that I plan on bringing home with me — and one that we could all benefit from adopting — is that of gratitude. Gratitude for mother earth, gratitude for our successes and gratitude for family.

Don’t Even Try to Escape the World Cup

Let me start off by mentioning that the country that I am living in (Ecuador) did not qualify for this year’s World Cup. That being said, talk of soccer is still heavily present in every conversation and every inch of this country. If there’s not a game being played at the time, there will be conversations surrounding yesterday’s unbelievable game, or the anticipation for tomorrow’s game.

Got somewhere to go? You don’t even have to worry about missing the game when you leave the house, because it will be broadcasted on the radio in the car on your way over. And I can say with certainty that it is being shown at your destination. If there is a television showing the World Cup, you will find people flocking to watch, even if they are not customers. Everyone is invited to take part. And surprisingly, I have never seen anyone turned away from watching even without a purchase.

Culture Shock: Business Edition

When I moved to California, having grown up on the East Coast, I thought that San Diego was as relaxed as business culture was going to get. I was wrong.

I began my internship at a boutique travel agency in Ecuador about a week ago, and business culture here could not be more different.

The Paradox of Being a U.S. Intern in a Ugandan Refugee Settlement

There are things in life that all of the reading, videos and frantic Googling cannot prepare you for. My experience providing emergency relief and humanitarian aid for newly-arrived refugees in Uganda was one of them.

I am currently residing in the Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, where I spend my weekdays as an intern under the Humanitarian Aid sector for Action Africa Help (AAH), a non-governmental organization that supports communities in conflict and post-conflict situations (e.g. refugees and internally displaced people).

“The issues you will see here started long before you came and will continue long after you are gone.” This was one of the first things one of my intern supervisors at AAH told me when I reached the settlement.

Let’s Talk About Death

Imagine that you’re sitting in a hospital bed, the same one you’ve been living in for the past three days. You’ve been poked and prodded by doctors as they have tried to figure out what’s wrong with you. You’ve gone through more CT scans and blood tests than you can count. You’re exhausted and feel even worse than when you first came in.

Student by Day, Tourist by Night

Before I arrived in Bangkok, I had a very clear idea of what my role here would be. I was going to be a student. I don’t mean to flaunt, but with a whole life of experience and a passion for learning, I think I’m pretty good at being a student. This confidence made me feel as though I had a leg up on the competition. It made me feel like taking the leap and spending six weeks in Thailand would be easy. I was both right and wrong.

A Valuable Lesson Learned

When I decided to take a journey across the world five months ago, the first thing I was warned about was homesickness. “The first week will be the hardest,” they said. “You’ll miss every little thing about home, especially the things you wouldn’t expect.” Professors, fellow students, family and friends reiterated this more times than I can count. They made the first week sound absolutely treacherous.

How to Afford Traveling (Working Student Edition)

I’ve been traveling internationally for the past 10 years and one question that I’m consistently asked is “how can you afford it?” As a full time student and restaurant server paying her own way in life, most people cannot understand how I could whisk off on an extended vacation every summer. Well, the answer lies in the bag of tricks I’ve accumulated along the way and below are a few of my best tips!

Solace in the City

Ahhhhh … inner city transport. Most people describe this means of transportation as: crowded, loud, smelly and at least once a week a drug addict will be itching to explain the ways of the universe to you. But I adore my underground journeys for two reasons.