Using Dr. Perry's guiding questions (underlined and in bold below), I have reflected upon the experiences I had in my internship this summer.
1. Explain specifically what you learned (use your learning contract and learning outcomes as a guide).
The following were my learning objectives at the start of my internship. I have noted in italics whether or not I achieved these goals.
1. Gained a thorough understanding of what various careers in study abroad might entail (especially the “behind the scenes” work) by working with and observing each member of the office.
Unlike my previous internship, I spent roughly 40 hours per week in the Study Abroad Office, so I was constantly able to observe the true nature of work in this area of higher education. I did indeed get a behind the scenes look at what my coworkers did on a daily basis, and was able to interview each person at length to learn more about what they did, and what they enjoyed or disliked about their jobs. Although my time dedicated to working on large projects meant that I could not help my coworkers in the same way that I had done at my internship with International Student and Scholar Services at WCU, I was able to attend several meetings with my supervisor, which gave me a new appreciation for what exactly her work entails.
2. Become familiar with the Terra Dotta/TDS/Studio Abroad software and any other programs relevant to work in this field.
I was given access to a "sandbox" version of the Study Abroad Office's Terra Dotta website, which allowed me to experiment with using the software without damaging the live version of the site. I spent several hours trying out various functions of the software until I felt comfortable performing these functions, at which point I moved to the live site, where I was able to actually create and change content myself. This hands-on experience enabled me to gain a strong understanding of how Terra Dotta works, something which I can certainly take with me in my future work.
3. Developed best practices for future use not only in a study abroad setting, but also for working with other student affairs professionals across campus and beyond.
Unlike my internship at WCU, I had more chances to interact with other student affairs professionals across campus. I was able to attend a meeting between my supervisor and a faculty member interested in leading a faculty-led program, and was able to observe how my supervisor was able to encourage collaboration between this faculty member and the Study Abroad Office by leading the conversation and offering resources and suggestions while still leaving the faculty member room to share her own ideas and concerns. I also had the opportunity to interact with the staff members running the Media Lab on campus, as well as several of the academic advisors who worked on the same floor. I was nervous at first to reach out to these individuals for assistance, but quickly learned that student success is an important goal for many of these people, and that they are willing to work together and offer help as necessary since it ultimately affects the students on campus. I think my major takeaway from these experiences has been simply to ask for help, and there will always be someone who wants to share.
4. If at all possible, gained experience working with students wishing to study abroad (I understand that this might not happen, as the office tends to be quiet in summer months)
As I had suspected when I began the internship, I had little opportunity to meet with students who came to the office for assistance. In fact, the only non-staff members who entered our office for the duration of my program, were the parents of incoming freshman students attending orientation. These parents did have questions which I was able to answer, and these interactions, however limited, did give me some opportunity to practice talking to "outsiders" about the services we provide and the resources we have to offer.
2. What are some transferable learning lessons/skills that you have gained through this experience?
One important lesson I learned in this internship was just how willing people in higher education are to share with others. I experienced this on two instances. In the first instance, my supervisor had asked me to create brochures to advertise our exchange programs, and had been inspired by a brochure produced by UNC Wilmington. I told her I could probably create something similar in a program like Canva, and she said that before I tried that, she would contact her colleague in the UNCW Education Abroad Office to see if we could use the same template. I never imagined that my supervisor would receive permission to do so, since someone else had obviously spent a lot of time working on those brochures, but to my great surprise, found that the UNCW Education Abroad Office was more than happy to let us use their design. They said that they knew how difficult it was to come up with a design from scratch and did not want us to reinvent the wheel if we did not have to.
My second time experiencing the generosity and supportive nature of the student affairs world was when my supervisor asked me to contact the Media Lab on our campus to learn about the resources they had that would be useful to me in creating our online orientation content. I contacted the two men in charge of the department, and was sure that when we met, they would not want to spend a lot of time with me. Again, I was surprised at their willingness to take the time to walk myself and my supervisor through each of the resources they oversee, whether relevant to our work or not. They took 90 minutes of their day to give us a tour of their green screen studio, sound booths, closed captioning stations, rental equipment like cameras and microphones, and each of the design programs and resources available through their computer lab. Not only did they give us a detailed look at all of the tools we had at our disposal, but they also made themselves available to me when I started to use these tools, answering questions I had or brainstorming to help come up with solutions to issues I was facing.
My supervisor told me that the higher education community is a relatively small one, so the support I had received from the Media Lab on campus as well as from the Education Abroad Office of a school at the other end of the state, are normal and expected within the community. I now feel confident that I will not make assumptions about what others may or may not be willing to help me with, and will always ask for help or feedback before starting a new project by myself.
On a more practical level, I learned how to use Adobe InDesign, which will be useful if I ever have to design any kind of marketing materials again, as well as Terra Dotta Software, which is a popular tool for study abroad offices, as it helps organize student data, documents, and study abroad information.
3. Is this an area you would consider as a future work setting?
Although I enjoyed the work I did throughout the duration of my internship, I am not sure whether this is an area in which I would like to work in the future.
As I described in some detail in my journal entries, I one thing was frustrated by in my internship was the sedentary nature of the job. I am not very enthusiastic about being in a job where most of my day is spent behind a desk. It was one of the things that I disliked most about my previous job, and something I do not want to spend a significant number of years doing when I start to work again in the future. I also know that I do not want a job where I am on my feet all day, as I have experienced that as well and it can be similarly frustrating. I am not entirely sure what kind of jobs in student affairs would allow me to experience the best of both worlds. Maybe this sounds unrealistic or overly picky, but these things do make a difference to me, and I would like to find a work situation that I can tolerate for several years at a time.
I also quickly realized that despite the fact that the projects I was working on were creative and interesting, they were not true representations of the realities of the office staff's daily work routines. The more time I spent talking with and observing my colleagues, the more I realized that the nature of the work itself actually might not be very interesting to me. In talking with my supervisor about the work that she does, she told me that she would like to be doing the kind of creative projects I have been working on, but that she hardly has time to do her other work. As a Learner, I like to spend time learning how to do new things, and enjoy work settings wherein I am faced with new challenges. Doing the same work daily like I observed my coworkers doing becomes repetitive and stifling, and I would prefer to work in an area of student affairs that offers more of a challenge. I will still keep this area of student affairs work as a possibility for my future career, but will spend more time looking into other areas as well.
4. Were you able to use your Strengths? If so, how?
My top 5 Strengths are Intellection, Input, Deliberative, Learner, and Achiever. In this job, I found the Input and Achiever strengths to serve me best.
I used my strength of Input, which involves researching and collecting information, most days of the internship, whether it included looking into how other schools completed their online orientations, compiling resources for diverse student groups studying abroad, or organizing content for the online orientation. I enjoy the challenge of weeding through large quantities of information, finding what I believe to be the most important or useful, and arranging in it in a logical, helpful manner.
I also used my Achiever strength daily. In the workplace and out, Achievers are satisfied by producing something tangible daily. I was asked to work on a few big projects when the internship started, and the members of the office told me that they would be happy even if I could not finish them. However, when I start something, I cannot put it out of my mind completely until the project is finished, so I was determined to complete each task I had been assigned. Every day, I left work having produced a new brochure or resource list or set of assessment questions for orientation, and I was satisfied that I had created something tangible, and therefore had spent my time well.
5. How important do you think this area is to students and to Higher Ed in general?
I was fortunate enough to be able to study abroad in the summer of my junior year of college, and found the experience to be as eye-opening and meaningful as it was challenging. So often, it is easy to think that the way you experience the world is the way everyone experiences it. However, traveling and living abroad is one of the best ways to see first-hand that there are many ways to live, and that yours is not the only or "right" way. I further believe that travel makes one more appreciative of the things one has, and helps the traveler develop deeper levels of empathy and understanding for others. I think it is a great benefit to students' personal and academic development to be forced to interact with people of vastly different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences than their own, and to challenge their learning by living and studying in an unfamiliar environment. But I also understand that for many students, this experience is a luxury.
I personally view the area of study abroad as important, if you can afford it. The older I get, and the more time I spend critically thinking about my own college experience, the more concerned I have become with issues surrounding cost. Although schools like WCU and UNCA have made study abroad more affordable by allowing students to study at partner schools while paying normal tuition to the home institution, there are so many hidden costs involved, including food, airfare, and incidental expenses. I believe it is irresponsible to help students study abroad without giving them realistic expectations of how much the experience will end up costing them. I believe a main role of the study abroad officer should be helping students overcome financial barriers to studying abroad. In some cases, this kind of assistance would include helping the student find the most affordable programs and ways to fund the experience. In other cases, when it is apparent that studying abroad might not be an option for a student, this assistance could include coming up with ways for that student to experience other cultures at home, or letting the student know of post-graduate opportunities to live and work abroad.
Last semester, I met a WCU student who was desperate to study abroad in Japan, but was working full time and could not afford to be out of work for a semester. Another HESA student encouraged him to apply for scholarships, but did not seem to understand that at this point in his life, he simply would not be able to afford to study abroad, even with financial assistance. I suggested that he wait until he graduated and apply to teach English in Japan, as airfare and housing would be covered, and he would be able to stay in the country while working for as long as he liked. I think that if study abroad offices are able to provide this kind of realistic support for students, and if employees in these offices take the time to provide students with responsible advice and suggestions, then the area of study abroad can be invaluable to those students it serves.