In Retrospect

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

Leave a Reply