My internship in Boston: WEEK 13 | Let's talk about the last three months!

Another month has gone by, that can only mean one thing, a fourth of my internship is done. All of this is still a little unreal as it sometimes feels like I just arrived in Boston, but no, I have been working towards achieving my first quarter goals all this time.

Over the past months I have been working towards gaining a full understanding of the three departments I am working in, Global Employer Relations, Global Experience Office and Career Services; having a full understanding of Northeastern Co-op model with specific knowledge about global co-op- to achieve this full understanding I have been participating in employers calls and toward the end leading call with employers as well as participating in on-campus employers visits.

Throughout the past months, I have also been redesigning Global Co-op info session and became comfortable presenting to the large group of students. I have also been developing communication and research skills by compiling regional trip preparation reports for different regions around the world sometimes being challenged by language barriers or sometimes challenge by the lack of information available on websites. I have learned to overcome the challenges by using online translators as well as developing a new research strategy using companies affiliated to the American Chamber of Commerce in the specific country.

Another one of my goals this quarter was to understand and learn about the logistics of organizing a large student event. To achieve this goal, I have talked to fellow co-workers to understand the processes of putting such an event into place. As a result of those interactions and being the coordinator and the 'event manager' of the Global Co-op Networking Fair, I have created a manual describing the steps that need to be undertaken in order to run a successful event. This manual will later be sent to other departments on campus as my office will no longer be in charge of this event in the Spring semester. Additionally, I became familiar with the college co-op target for the next calendar year, to achieve this I have created a snapshot utilizing a student survey. I have also been familiarizing myself with one of the software that the university staff and students are using on a daily basis. I have also been attending training assigned by incoming exchange coordinator.

As a result, I have been gaining communication skills both written and verbal; leadership and teamwork skills by learning to delegate; being an active listener in meetings, being organized and efficient; learning to brainstorm with the team; documenting my work to be able to refer to it more easily; learn to communicate with highers up and I have also learned to be more assertive in some situations. I have been networking with colleagues and people from various company departments. Over the past three months, I have also been taking advantages of conferences, lectures, and other learning opportunities.

I hope that this give you a little more insights on my internship and I will be back really soon with another blog!

In the meantime, you can check my weekly vlogs on my YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyuCGxEITB4FEPP23FaNclw

Here are my last two vlogs