The Top Five Benefits of International Internships

Choosing to intern globally is a big decision to make. It’s not only a choice to commit yourself to a new professional atmosphere, but to change entirely your daily habits of food, culture and social life for a time.  It’s like going hiking in high altitudes – your body needs time to acclimatize and it may be difficult initially, but you are no doubt going to emerge a better hiker when you’re finished.

The rewards of training in new environments are plentiful, but what are the top five rewards of global internships?

It grows the initiative muscle
Initiative is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger and more efficient it becomes. It’s a big step to jump on a plane and voluntarily shift your time zone, let alone commit to an internship in a new and exotic land. When interning overseas, you no longer have your deeply knit friends or family watching over your shoulder. You are in charge of yourself and all things get done only if you proactively choose to do them.

Living in a new culture
The great thing about travelling overseas is how much it allows us to learn about the world beyond the society we happened to be born into. In an even more profound way, international work experience is a chance to not only learn about a foreign culture, but to live in the heart of it. Have you ever thought about who you would be if the dice roll of nature had been different? What if you were born into an entirely different culture? This question can’t actually be answered, but global internships provide a nice experimental gaze into other cultural realities.

A CV more interesting than your average bear
Take two candidates for a graduate engineering position, Bob and Bill. They have roughly similar grades and extra-curriculars. The only difference is that Bob interned in Australia whilst Bill worked for a company in Vietnam. Before the filtering process of an interview, Bill is a little more intriguing – he stands out. He signals a more interesting candidate, one who takes initiative and is curious about self-development.

New friends, new ideas
Making friends overseas is fun because every conversation is potentially a challenge to your entire way of viewing the world. New jokes, food and dance are all great benefits – but even more profound is the exciting novelty of a new climate of friendship.

Coming back a superhero
Returning from their internships, participants often say that they feel like new people – like their dreams and visions for the world are somehow so much closer than they’ve ever been. This sense of agency and courage is nothing short of super hero status – you feel like a new person because you are a new person.

 

AIESEC’s Global Talent

AIESEC is a student run institution that organizes international internships and volunteering opportunities. Operating in over 125 different countries, Global Talent offers internships in young and gunning startups, all the way to big game multinationals. Internships can range from six weeks to two years, depending on what a candidate is looking for in their placement. AIESEC Sydney operates from campus and exists to facilitate the wonderful experience of global internships for University of Sydney students.

We live in the best time to be alive. The world has always been large and endless, and yet today it is firmly in the palm of our hands, if that’s how we want it to be. In the old days, if you were born a cultured German, you remained a cultured German – and might not have even acknowledged that something outside of your part of Germany existed. Today, not only can we skype anyone from anywhere – we can travel abroad to live, work, eat and laugh amongst them.

Ninos Mansor
Current student at the University of Sydney and PR Manager, AIESEC Sydney

AIESEC: Global Youth Leadership

AIESEC is a student society which specialises in arranging overseas volunteering programs. There are programs in almost every continent, and my program was in Taiwan. It was an education project in Hsinchu called, ‘Bridge the Gap’.

Taiwan has always been a country that I have wanted to visit, and I have always felt that the best way to get to know a foreign country is to live the local life. Furthermore, I wanted to spend the three months of my summer holidays doing something meaningful and memorable. So I applied, and I couldn’t have given myself a better 21st present.

Like many people, when I heard about the volunteering opportunity with an education program, I thought I would be teaching a small class at a rural school in the mountains with only fundamental supplies and furniture. I was wrong. Instead, I taught at a public elementary school which comprised of more than 1000 students. Initially, I was arranged to teach from year 3 to year 6, but later, due to the amount of positive feedback, I also taught year 1 and year 2 students.

Altogether, I taught 48 classes and presented 64 lessons throughout the 6 week program. I also arranged an Australian cultural camp. I taught my students Aboriginal Art and also brought in lamingtons and vegemite for them to try. It was definitely an accomplishment which I never thought of achieving.


As Taiwan does not have a multicultural society, naturally, students have less exposure to different cultures around the world. It was the first time I felt privileged for living in a multicultural environment. The aim of my program was to broaden my students’ global perspective. Thus, in my lessons, I taught them about Australian culture: our food, language, landscape, etc. I even showed them what an Australian Primary School is like.

I also had to assign homework to the students and their task was DIY postcard. Many of them wrote that when they grow up, they wanted to travel to Australia. Unexpectedly, I became a free ambassador for Tourism Australia.

I was hosted by one of my students’ family and they definitely exhibited the hospitable nature of the Taiwanese people. However, the best thing about the AIESEC program was that I got to meet other volunteers from around the world. I made friends from Chile, Brazil, the USA, Korea, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore and many more places. Like me, most of my volunteer friends have never been to Taiwan. For this reason, everyone bonded very quickly and looked after each other like family. The other volunteers were in different programs, including community service, farming and other education programs. However, we planned weekend trips, dinners, and Christmas and New Year celebrations together. 

Often, we only actively interact with people who have a similar background or interests. However, when you are in a foreign country knowing nobody, you are forced to bond and connect with people from different backgrounds and walks of life. Making friends with people who you would usually never interact with didn’t seem so hard anymore. I managed to gain a new perspective of the world and this was definitely one of my biggest gains.

In my application for this program, I wrote: ‘It is through giving that we receive’. I felt that I have definitely received a lot more than what I have given: better social and communication skills, self-management skills, independence, satisfaction and most importantly, the courage and confidence to do something that was not in my comfort zone. If in the coming holidays you fail to obtain an internship or a job, I would definitely recommend volunteering as a substitute. By being in a different environment, you will definitely discover a new perspective of yourself.

Anna Zhou
Current student at the University of Sydney Business School

One month at Boston University

I remember my first days in Boston very clearly. I was so excited, yet so nervous about living and studying in a city that was so far away from home. I remember pressing my face against the window on the plane and marvelling at how everything was covered in pure white snow. I remember trying to navigate through the “T” (Boston’s super complicated public transport system) and eventually setting foot on Boston University’s campus.

It’s been one month since I arrived. Here’s a review of my experiences and some highlights (there are really too many to go through!).

Snow
Being on the other side of the world, the seasons are reversed, and I found myself in the midst of winter. And not just any winter, but a record-breaking winter. January 2015 was the snowiest month ever recorded in Boston. I remember the day it was announced that a historical blizzard named Juno was about to hit the State. Everyone made a run for the grocery stores to stock up on food for the “snowpocalypse”, and I was advised to charge all my electronics in case the electricity went out. But the snowstorms didn’t stop coming each week. After Juno, came Linus, then Marcus and Neptune.  There was so much snow that five days of classes had to be cancelled. It was fascinating to see cars buried under the snow, even public transport caved in on some days and stopped running altogether.

Like a true Bostonian, I have become accustomed to temperatures that have usually ranged from between -20 to 0 degrees Celsius. I can thank Boston that my concept of “cold” will never be the same again.

 Trying to cross the road right after Juno the snow blizzard

Classes
Studying at Boston University isn’t quite the same as studying at the University of Sydney. All my classes here are “tutorial” style and they are all taught by the same professor. Attendance and participation is really important; it’s worth 30% of the total grade for one of my subjects. Also, forget about getting HDs, Ds or Credits - the grading system here is based on letters.

One of my favourite things here is that the gym is completely free to students. You can take classes at the gym that are worth credit points, and I took advantage of this by enrolling in kickboxing (which I currently have a love-hate relationship with – it was a lot more intense than I thought). As a Marketing major, another thing I’m extremely excited about is that one of my Marketing group projects involves working with the famous Boston Red Sox.

School spirit, not to mention, is also really huge and unforgettable here. Friday nights are spent at the School arena cheering on the hockey team (very loudly and passionately), draped proudly in red and white gear (pictured below with friends from my dorm).

Dorm Life
At Boston University, about 75% of undergraduate students live on campus, meaning friends are never too far from you (and parents are far far away). I was so lucky to be assigned to live in a “brownstone” dormitory. It’s a beautiful 19th century house along a tree-lined road, and looking out my window, I can see the Boston skyline and the Charles River (pictured below). I also got to experience what having a roommate is all about; eat at dining halls and do my laundry in a laundry room.  But the best part of it all – it only takes five minutes to walk to my classes every day!

The view from my window before the snowstorms began

If you look closely, you’ll see number 179 which is my dorm number

American Culture
Even though I had to part ways with some of my Australian habits, it has been worth it to experience things that were unique to Americans. For example, I’ve had to change some of my vocabulary. Whenever I asked someone simple things like, “How are you going?”, I was always given a puzzled look – I’ve since learnt that “What’s up?” was how everyone greeted each other in Boston. I’ve also accidentally walked into a store asking if they were selling “thongs”, when I meant to say “flip-flops”, resulting in one of the most awkward situations I have ever found myself in. Luckily I just explained that I was from Australia – which then reminds me, I’ve lost count of the amount of times someone has told me that they loved my Australian accent and wanted me to keep talking. I wish making friends was always this easy!

Another notable thing about living in the U.S is that I’m always carrying a wallet full of coins. Yes, 1 cent coins for some reason still exist, and they are bigger in size than the 10 cent coins. To add more confusion, the coins are referred to by their names – penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar, and I’m still trying to figure out which is which. You also need to tip at restaurants or after a taxi ride, and this continues to stress me out because I never know how much to put down. I’m also still learning how to convert Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius, miles to metres and pounds to kilograms in my head. I’m definitely getting there though, becoming more American everyday – which is one of the best ways to make the most out of Exchange.

All in all, applying for the International Exchange Program has definitely been one of the best decisions I have ever made!

Fiona Le
Fiona is a student at the University of Sydney Business School, and currently participating in the International Exchange Program at Boston University.