Hi everyone,

I am Niall and this summer I am going on the International Internship Program in Madrid and am super excited for the following 8 weeks. Madrid offers exciting opportunities and culture that I can experience through this internship program.

To begin though, a little bit about me. I am going to be a senior in the coming fall and have had a great first three years. I am from Chicago and coming to school was the first time I had ever been to Pittsburgh. I am not actually a student in the business school, but rather the arts and sciences school currently majoring in political science with a co major in international studies and minors in economics, Spanish, and applied stats. Coming into school I was originally a bio major but switched after a year. On a more personal level, I live with my parents, brother, and dog, and enjoy being outside and active. I enjoy running and playing sports with my friends during my free time. I also enjoy traveling and seeing new places. I am hoping to be able to explore a lot of Madrid by running through it during the program. Last May, about exactly a year ago, was the first time I had been out of the country but Spain will now be the 6th country I will have traveled to. I love seeing and being immersed in a new culture and being able to be in the same place and live with a foreign family for 2 straight months is a perfect way to learn a lot about a culture. On campus at Pitt I work as a manager at the student union building and am involved in the ACS on campus club. 

The International Internship Program in Madrid interested me specifically for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is the perfect match to help me learn and become more confident in my Spanish. The only true way to learn a language is to be immersed and forced to use that language everyday in a natural and real setting so coming to Spain is a perfect match for my language goals. In addition to this, the prospective job matches were also very intriguing. I was drawn to this program because it wasn’t a typical study abroad, but rather focused on work and being in a work environment while abroad. Instead of going to take classes I am able to go and do work in my future field. Similarly to this, the length of the program is also very advantageous. Being there for an extended period of time really lets me live a lifestyle similar to locals.  I was matched with a think tank study focused on education policy development. This aligns very well with my school focus of political science and applied stats, and is an opportunity that I could not get anywhere else but through this internship program. In addition to these things, working in a different country and being colleagues with people who speak a different language and have different cultural experiences will cultivate skills valuable in any line of work. I will need to learn a lot and be very open to all the differences and challenges that I will face. At the end of it however, I will be much better off in the long run, as I will be able to effectively work and contribute in any workplace environment. By the end of the program I am hoping to have developed a strong cross cultural understanding and competency which will in turn greatly improve my teamwork and communication skills. 

Another advantage of the International Internship Program, specific to Madrid is the ability to live with a host family. This is again another key factor in language development. With a host family conversation of any topic can come up as opposed to mainly work talk. These random conversations will be very natural and will help to improve my everyday spanish fluency. Living with a host family and interacting with them everyday will also give me unique insights into the culture. I will be able to see how they live everyday and what differences exist between me and them. This is something unique and will be exciting to observe.

Overall, I am super excited for the program to begin and to spend much of my summer in Madrid. When I come back I am hoping to be a much more confident Spanish speaker and have developed skills and gained experience pertinent to my future career aspirations.