This is not an easy goodbye and definitely will be bittersweet as I move on after this semester. The last five months have flown by and it seems like just yesterday I was meeting Sarah, Mary, and Emily for the first time. In that short time, though, so many memories have been made, friendships ignited, and lessons learned.

I would like to start with explaining all that I’ve learned through the ups and downs of this semester. Moving forward as a student and in my career, these lessons will forever be valuable, of which I will be forever grateful. Primarily, I learned how vital communication is to a professional work environment, and I don’t think I’ve ever checked my email as much or been as attentive to messages as I have been at the CGS. Many deadlines approached with a limited amount of time in the office, and if communication would have been strained, everything would have crumbled.

Apart from all of the information I learned from sitting in on CGS-sponsored events, I also learned how to professionally conduct myself in a personal and cyber manner. I learned how to formally introduce people through email and learned how to communicate with those that are equal to me such as my fellow intern Katie, but also to those who were way above me in schooling, education, and their career such as with Bassem Youssef, Dr. Jens-Uwe Guettel, or the many professors I crossed paths with.

Another aspect of my internship that has taught me a lot has been teaching at Young Scholars of Central PA Charter School, where I lead three after-school clubs on world cultures, comparative politics, and journalism. While I specifically learned how to manage a large group of kids in a classroom, I learned workplace incentive and punishment through working with these students. I have witnessed the immense power a treat or consequence has on one’s actions and I see myself using this same technique in a position of authority at a job in 

the future. Also, these kids taught me patience, which is crucial to any profession. It was rare to walk into the classroom and the students to already have pencils in hand, ready to go, so it was a learning curve to get them enthusiastic and ready to go every day. While some persisted to fight the system, I believe many of the students became engaged and excited to learn, something that is very rewarding to me.

I want to finish by thanking everyone at the CGS for their help over the semester, making it as low stress and easy as possible. Sarah and Mary helped so much with professional advice and pointers throughout the semester and both assisted me in many ways with my clubs at YSCP. Emily was enthusiastic everyday, helping with events, and making every minute around her joyful. Katie worked tremendously hard and picked up my slack whenever I was busy with clubs or school work. For that I am so thankful and appreciate how Katie was there for me throughout the semester.

I hope to stay in touch with everyone and that this is not a final goodbye. I will be on the look out for future events and cannot wait to see what the CGS has in store for the future.

It’s hard to believe that this whirlwind semester is coming to an end. It seems as though just yesterday I was starting my junior year and was meeting the CGS team for the first time. I knew that it was going to be the busiest semester of my college career thus far. What I didn’t know, however, was how much I would come to enjoy the challenge. I truly have come to value the experiences of the last sixteen weeks, especially my work with the Center for Global Studies. Interning for CGS was no doubt an engaging and unique experience, largely because of the skills I expanded and the topics that I was exposed to.

As mentioned earlier, because of my majors, I have gotten the opportunity to study some very interesting global topics. However, it pales in comparison to the wide range of topics that I learned about at CGS.  From the Brown Bags, where I learned about Chinese Religious Citizenship or Photography in Senegal to the event about Fascism organized by Aaron and I—I found that I was constantly learning about thought-provoking issues that I wouldn’t have been able to study otherwise. This is perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of interning: always learning something new.

Another highlight was getting the opportunity to interview Dr. Sunetra Sen Narayan and Dr. Shalini Narayanan. I had never done a formal interview such as this one, and both women were incredibly sweet, making it a really great first experience. I also can’t leave out Bassem Youssef in this semester’s highlights, however, I wish timing would have allowed me to have attended more of his events!

The creation of a newsletter was also something I had never had the opportunity to do before. While it was often challenging to succinctly communicate details from information-packed events, I enjoyed the opportunity and freedom to write about aspects of each lecture or topic that I found most interesting. This semester, I also expanded skills that I do not often get to use. I enjoy designing promotional materials such as posters, and through working with Sarah, I definitely feel as though my design skills improved.

Thus, in retrospect, I have no doubt that I learned some really new and interesting things about topics I would have not originally expected to be exploring. The skills that I utilized and strengthened at CGS will no doubt play a role in future internships, schoolwork, and life as a whole.

I am sad that this is my only semester with CGS, as I will be abroad in Maastricht, Netherlands in the spring of 2018. During my time abroad, I have no doubt that I will continue to learn more about global issues and cultures. I would like to thank the CGS team for making this internship a very positive experience. I wish Sarah, Mary, Emily, and Aaron the best in all of their future endeavors, and hope that I will see them around campus and at future events!

-Katie