Located in the center of Indianapolis, The International Center has welcomed nine interns from all over the world this summer. Each intern wrote a short bio about themselves, a tradition here at The Center, in order to help us learn more about who will be contributing this summer. Without further ado, meet our new interns!
Meet our spring 2015 interns!
As a tradition every semester, we welcome the new interns who will be bringing their diverse experience and skills to The International Center. As part of their internship experience, all of them will post blog entries that are related to the department they work at in order to contribute and add value to The International Center’s blog. Let’s introduce the spring 2015 interns!
Meet our FALL 2014 Interns!
A new season is upon us, so The International Center autumn make a change! This fall, we welcome a new batch of interns ranging in backgrounds and interests. We asked all nine of them to share a little about his or her self for our blog. Because of their shared love of travel, we also asked each to share a favorite travel photo. So before we fall behind, here are the interns!
Hello Summer and Hello Interns!
Summer is finally here! Along with
its long awaited warmth comes a batch of new faces, as The International Center
has invited eight new interns to join its team. Ranging in backgrounds,
interests, and specialties, say hello to the summer interns of 2014!
All Good Things Must Come To An End
By Abby Miller, Marketing and Communications Intern
To say that our time at The International Center got off to an interesting start would be a complete understatement. January of this year, if you remember, Indianapolis experienced extreme winter weather that caused many interns to start later than anticipated. When the temperature of the city was below freezing and the streets were constantly covered in snow, it was easy to believe that spring would never come.
To say that our time at The International Center got off to an interesting start would be a complete understatement. January of this year, if you remember, Indianapolis experienced extreme winter weather that caused many interns to start later than anticipated. When the temperature of the city was below freezing and the streets were constantly covered in snow, it was easy to believe that spring would never come.
Meet the Interns: Spring 2014
It’s that time of year! Just as we turn over to a new
calendar and prepare for the upcoming year, a new team of interns has joined
The International Center for the spring. As the first blog post for 2014, each
intern has shared a little about his or her self. Without further ado, meet the
interns!
An Internship To Remember
Time flies. Doesn’t it? When it comes to December...: Reflection of an Internship
By Yizhi "Lois" Luo, Asian Learning Center of Indiana Intern
Four months ago, when I was making my argument to a friend of mine about leaving my current job at that time and moving to Indianapolis for a 300-hour unpaid internship at The International Center, I did not know how well this would turn out. I was certainly expecting something new, something that would sharpen me, and something that would open a bigger world for me. Now that it is time to summarize all that I’ve done during this period of time at The Center, I am surprised, encouraged and assured that I made the exactly right decision to participate in this program. The International Center’s internship program met all my expectations and at times even exceeded them.
Interns: Fall 2013 Edition
"We are the Interns!" is what our group became when we were selected to be a part of a great team here at The International Center. We all come from different backgrounds and we all received degrees from different Universities, but the five of us definitely have something in common: we are advocates of foreign cultures and international growth. Each of us possesses a diverse set of skills that can be used to assist The International Center in expanding Indiana's global interest. So without further ado, here are the members of the Fall 2013 class of interns!
Meet the 2013 Summer Interns!
Yiting Li
Asian Learning Center Intern
DePauw University
“As an international student from China, I keep a strong interest in promoting diversity at DePauw. As the new intern at Asian Learning Center this summer, my main project is to improve the marketing strategies for ALCI, including maintaining the social networking accounts, updating the websites, and creating other marketing materials. I am also assisting with the “Learning about Asia from Food” program, which aims to increase the awareness about different food cultures in Asia. I hold a strong career interest in Non-profit Organization, International relations and education after graduation.”
Madeleine Thickett
Development Intern
Brasenose College, Oxford University
"As someone with an international background myself, I feel that The International Center is the perfect place to spend my summer. I am really excited to learn about American culture and its international outreach. In the development role I hope I will get to see all of the facets making up The International Center and appreciate how necessary it is in today’s global society. I hope to learn about fundraising and I feel that being so enthusiastic about what The International Center is trying to achieve will really help."
Catherine Johnson
IVLP Intern
Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service
"I am very happy to be spending this summer at The International Center for the chance to learn more about the opportunities for international business and intercultural contact and exchange in Indianapolis. Through working with the IVLP program, I am excited for the chance to work with groups of international visitors who are coming to Indiana over the next couple months."
Alyssa Ufer
Event Management Intern
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
“I chose to intern with the International Center due to the fantastic opportunity it has offered in the Event Management Intern position. The responsibilities and duties required to plan The International Citizen of the Year Award Dinner will help me to gain operational, managerial, and critical thinking skills vital to my success in the industry. I am so excited to be part of an organization filled with hard working individuals, who are truly dedicated to stimulating International growth in Indiana.”
Hayley Pierson
Relocation Services Intern
Hanover College
"I wanted to be a part of the International Center because I wanted to see what Indianapolis has to offer the International community and how Indianapolis is becoming more global."
Emily Garman
Global Competency Intern
University of Dayton
“I hope to gain experience in understanding business and working in a professional environment. I also want to have interaction on an international level and increase my competency concerning different cultures.”
Kasey Cranfill
Office of Protocol Intern
Purdue University
“I'm interning at The International Center to gain a better understanding of how to handle cross-cultural situations professionally. The International Center is full of people who have had a lot of experience with these types of situations and I feel I can learn a lot from them.”
Joel van Bergeijk
Programs and Services Intern
University of Indianapolis
“I wanted to be a part of The International Center because of the professional opportunities and connections offered by the position, as well as the opportunity to improve my German language skills.”
Maggie Dankert
Asian Learning Center Intern
University of South Carolina, Class of 2010
“I am most excited to be a part of The International Center because this is the type of work I want to center my life around. I hope to someday work with assisting International students’ lives on a college campus, and the ALC intern position is allowing me to apply the knowledge I’ve gain while living abroad, my graduate studies in higher education, and my love of working with international peoples. This will be an amazing learning experience.”
Alejandra Salmeron
Marketing, Communications, and Stakeholder Relations Intern
Indiana University
“I am glad to be a part of the International Center this summer because everything they do has a tremendous impact on the people of Indianapolis and the City itself, especially in terms of expanding cultural diversity and understanding. It is a chance to learn from amazing people!”
Making a Difference
By Alejandra Salmeron,
Marketing, Communications & Stakeholder Relations Intern
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| Downtown Indianapolis |
Summer is finally arriving, and with the changes in weather come new opportunities and experiences at The International Center. This is the first week for the 2013 summer interns, and as one of them, I’d like to share my story about how I got here and what this place means to me.
I move around a lot, certainly not as much as some people, but enough to know what it is like to leave home and start out again in a new city located in a different country. I was born in Mexico, and the first time I moved to Indianapolis I was six. To be honest, I don’t remember much about that move, because when you’re young it is much easier to make anywhere home, even language barriers can’t hold you back for too long. When I was thirteen I moved back to Mexico. That move was a little harder. I knew Spanish very well because I had never stopped speaking it at home, but I had grown used to the American culture, and switching back wasn’t very easy. Eventually I made friends and grew comfortable in my new surroundings and felt at home again.
Right after graduating high school, I moved with my parents back to Indianapolis. At this point I saw it as an opportunity. Because of timing, I had to wait six months before I could start college, so I had a little time to explore Indianapolis and get to know the city again, which had changed a lot since the last time I had been here, growing in size and diversity. There were new buildings, stores and roads, and in general it was much busier. I heard different languages everywhere, like at the store, or just walking down the street. Indianapolis was thriving, and I was delighted to find such an increasingly rich mixture of cultures within the city.
During this move, my family had the help of The International Center, and it made a significant difference in our experience. We had people help us with our driver’s licenses (which we all know is never easy anyway), the Social Security office, and finding a place to live, among other things. These are all tedious processes to go through, no matter how many times you’ve moved before, and having someone to guide you along the way was greatly appreciated by my family.
After we had settled in, my mother started going to COPE (Community Orientation Program for Expatriates) meetings, which she always came back happy from, because not only did she find what was discussed very useful, but she also found people going through the exact same emotions and experiences that she was. I decided I would go with her to a few of the meetings, and it was the first time I truly took the time to understand what The International Center was, and how essential it had been to this notable change I had seen in Indianapolis. It is so nice to have someone explain things to you that might seem like common knowledge to people who have lived here their whole lives, but are very new to others who are living in this country for the first time. For example, what to do if you get pulled over (don’t get out of the car), where to go if you need legal help, changes you need to make to your legal documents, things that you can do to keep yourself busy if working is not an option yet, and so on. This is all useful information that we would’ve had to go look for on our own had The International Center not existed… and to think, this is only one of the things that they do! What a difference they have made, not only in people’s individual lives, but also very notably in the growing openness of the city to diversity.
That was a little over two years ago. I just finished my second year of college at Indiana University, and when I was looking for something to do this summer, I remembered my experience at The International Center, and how interested I had been in everything that they did. I thought to myself how great it would be to become part of it for the summer and help make a difference as well. I found their internship program, applied for it, and can now say I am very excited to be one of their interns, on my way to learning more about this organization, the needs it is fulfilling and finally, why it is so unique and important in this increasingly diverse and internationally connected world. They have made an impact in my life, and now through them, I hope to be able to make an impact on others.
Face to Face
By Chandin Lambert, Protocol Intern
"It's a revolutionary world we live in. And it is the young people who must take the lead." -JFK
The world we live in today is 4.54 billion years old, and the modern era began around the 16th century. The age of our world does not change the fact that it is continulously changing. We live in a revolutionary world that allows young people and generations to sculpt the world we live in. Regardless of each country's history or culture, everyone and everything is subject to change. I have been blessed to receive an unbelievable education from Ball State University, Westminster College of London, and now The International Center. The international knowledge I have gained from my internship at The Center I will take with me throughout my adventures and journerys for the rest of my life.
My time interning at The Center has been brilliant, and I have had many great experiences. I had the privilege of working under Peter Kirkwood in the Office of Protocol. My first week with The Center Peter invited me to the sister city signing ceremony for Kokomo and Dongyang. I accepted this invitation and arrived in the city of Kokomo to find people willing to learn. I watched with great interest as Peter instructed the members of the Kokomo mayor's office in Chinese culture. The lesson itself ranged from introductions to exchanging business cards. I did not understand before that day how much influence proper cultural training and protocol have in international affairs. The training from Peter and The Center allowed this event to go very smoothly. This allowed people from the city of Kokomo and Dongyang to build relationships. The delegates interacted very enthusiastically with the community of Kokomo, and were very grateful for the hospitatlity the city showed during their visit.
The generation we live in today is very dependent on technology and this has its positive and negatives. I attended a political science summit last weekend and one of the speakers said the best advice I can give you is to delete your social media and go out and meet someone. This message stuck with me and made me realize this is what The Center is doing every day. The Center has technology and utilizes it, but it is leading the Indianapolis community in going out and building international relationships.
The world we live in today may have its problems but I love it. The international community offers diverse cultures with diverse people interacting around the globe. Go meet someone from a different background, and get to know them. Build a relationship with this individual, and both parties will benefit from it. This is what The International Center does every day, with people and organizations from around the world. Follow their lead, and go out and meet someone. Continue the great tradition of change in our world that we are all blessed to live in.
Meet The Spring 2013 Interns!
We are thrilled to be assisting at The International Center this spring and wanted to introduce ourselves!
Meet the Fall 2012 Interns
Meet The International Center's interns for the Fall 2012 academic semester. We're a pretty diverse group with three of us being from different countries outside the U.S.: China, Japan, and Nigeria.
Meet the 2012 Summer Interns!
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| (from left to right): Peter Robbins; Katherine
Voskoboynik; Allison Smith; Kalyn Sprague; Marielle Petranoff;
Elizabeth Newkirk; Ellie Panahi; Marie Parent |