Category: Advice

Internships Ahoy

Published on by mirandablank11 Comments

My program with CIEE actually offered many internship options, although most were oriented towards political science majors. None looked interesting to me, so here comes Lesson Number One: Ask for help. I talked to two of my Art History professors, and both offered internships practically by the end of the week. If nothing quite suits you and you have something in mind- fix it! Ask for help! People love to help, and love free labor, so if you are just looking for experience this is a great way to go.

So after asking for help and receiving, I accepted the first job that came my way. At first working at the Hungarian National Archives for Art History sounded kind of boring, and even after the first few days it really felt boring. But Lesson Number Two: you can make any job fun just with your own outlook. My job was scanning documents into a digital system, which, as it happens, can be done at the same time as watching the first season of Friends on my laptop. So I still got the same amount of work done, but I did it while listening to a show, or sometimes Pimseleur language help for my Hungarian. I had friends who did similar things with their jobs (since not all problems can be solved with TV shows- especially since I was alone in a room with headphones I wasn’t distracting anyone and this is definitely not always true), just by being in a more positive state of mind and applying yourself, you can still have fun. Plus the documents I was scanning were from the late 1800s related to national art shows for up-in-coming painters of the day. Super cool!

Lesson Number Three, before I tell you about my second internship, is an important one: Don’t expect to get paid. These internships can be for credit or simply experience, but if you ask a professor to find you a paid job it will be less fun for everyone. But on the other hand, if you walk up to a professor saying “Look, I absolutely love art history and really want experience in the field be it volunteer work or an internship, would you be willing to help me,” I don’t think there is a single person who wouldn’t try to help you out. Professors love passion, and if you care and show that you care, they will help you.

I worked in that giant building on the hill! Aah!
I worked in that giant building on the hill! Aah!

This leads to the second internship that I got- the Hungarian National Gallery– aka Magyar Nemzeti Galeria. Just by asking a professor, I got to work in one of the most prestigious museums in Hungary, in a CASTLE so cool guys so cool. In any case, this leads to another point: Sometimes people accept interns without having any idea of what they want you to do. I loved this internship, but when I first got there they had no idea what to do with me. I edited and read through their website probably 10 times just looking for grammar mistakes on three different days until I suggested other ways I could help. So Lesson Number Four: Sometimes you have to make your own work. Ultimately I ended up writing a new section for their website and giving tours to English speaking tourists on Saturdays, but it took a while and some suggestions before these were my assigned jobs.

Me and my boss Fatima in the top floor of the Gallery in front of a statue of György Dózsa-- super creepy story you should look it up on wiki.
Me and my boss Fatima in the top floor of the Gallery in front of a statue of György Dózsa– super creepy story you should look it up on wiki.

But finally, the most important lesson I drew from having these internships is this, Lesson Number Five:

→ Do what you love.

Internships can be all kinds of fun – like that idiom says about “never work a day in your life,” right? So when you do find an internship, just make sure it meshes with your interests. Then every day will feel like learning and new experiences, and not like a real job. You should look forward to your internship and not dread it. I looked forward to both of mine because I still learned a lot and it was in an area I care about- I hope that if you choose to intern abroad it is so you can have some fun, too, and isn’t just for resume boosting.

DU Something Abroad

Published on by jgg818Leave a comment

One of the best ways I have been able to meet local students and be immersed in the campus life at Queen’s is through student involvement.

The first step to getting involved was attending Queen’s Fresher’s Fair. Similar to DU’s pioneer carnival, clubs and societies set up tables for you to explore every aspect of what social life at Queens has to offer. The event was overwhelming with all the opportunities being presented. Many of the clubs charged fees, but early sign up often meant discounts. I chose to weigh my options, however, and took a lot of brochures, rather than joining too many clubs on the spot. I knew I wanted to make my time at Queen’s count, so I was hesitant to spread myself too thin.

Excitedly, however, I did manager to get my name on a few too many lists, and once I returned back to my house, I was trying to prioritize. I decided on writing for the Student’s Union Magazine and trying to put together a show for Queen’s Radio.

The magazine was a neat idea, but because it was a new society, the organization struggled a bit. I did officially write three articles for them, and met a few people at our meetings. One of my stories was a review of an open stage night the theater society hosted. This was a great experience, and although it was an indirect effect of joining the magazine, it lead to meeting more people and enjoying a night of goofy theatrical acts and socializing after.

The Radio, was a totally different story. When I attended the first meeting, PJ, Belgian guy from my house was there. We got to talking and found we had signed up for almost all the same clubs. Excitedly, we decided to explore the idea of doing a show together. We signed up for a training time, and even the Radio Manager said we had great names for DJs: Jessie and PJ, they just go together.

I can honestly say that without doing the radio show my life at Queen’s would have been desperately different. I got to meet people through the station, I got radio experience as well as script writing experience, but most importantly I made my best abroad relationship. PJ, my cohost, turned out to be one of my closest friends. We spent an hour doing the show each week, but we also spent about 2-3 planning and writing the themes and goofy scripts that included fictional interviews and creative news stories, oh and music to match the theme. We would get so off track during the planning, laughing and joking about everything; those are memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. We eventually became close to inseparable, and he has been a great person to have since I started my life in Belfast. We would go to the theater, the gym, dancing, even karaoke together; both of us keen on seeing Belfast.

2 Peas in a Pod!
2 Peas in a Pod!

It was really cool to write and work with someone who has English as a second language, I got to help teach vocabulary as well as learn about Dutch phrases and sayings. The radio show really teased out a lot of cultural differences that created space for conversation. Some of the most basic topics would spark in depth discussions, and I ended up learning quite a lot about Belgium!  Not to mention working on a project gave me some structure to every week and helped PJ and I stay focused on planning our weeks to leave time for writing.

In the studio after our first show!
In the studio after our first show!

A Little Bit of P&J will be concluding this week in a final holiday addition. You can listen for yourself Friday at 3pm (Blefast time) which is 8am MST right HERE. We also repost our shows as podcasts which you can check out HERE.