When you are 19 years old and traveling to a new country, in a continent which you have never ever stepped foot in, as someone who has not really traveled by themselves, there is a lot of uncertainty that comes with the experience. Add to that working in a country where you do not speak the people’s language and working in a work environment which you are not used to. Obviously, before I started the internship, I did experience uncertainty because I was worried about all these factors, about how my coworkers would be, how my supervisor would be, and whether I should take the U-Bahn or S-Bahn, and what bus would get me there. There were all these factors. There was also some ambiguity regarding what specifically I would be working on during my time interning for the NGO Tip:Tap.

However, when you ask how I navigate all these different uncertainties or ambiguities regarding my internship, I would say to give it time. Obviously, we are young and in a new city. You feel a range of different emotions, from fear to elation, stress to excitement. The first week, which was just dedicated to orientation and simply seeing the city with my group of fellow Pitt students in Berlin, really helped. It was during this time that I got really familiar with the city. Our Intrax program coordinator was making sure that we saw everything that Berlin had to offer. She made us walk, a lot, around the city and made sure that we used the public transportation system. Eventually, during the week, I made sure that I used the buses or trains by myself, either to go grocery shopping or just sightsee. I feel that to overcome these fears concerning my internship, I had to become a Berliner. It wasn’t hard. Honestly, I was a little scared because this was my first time in Europe. I allowed myself to also make mistakes. If I took the wrong bus, instead of panicking, I just calmed down and focused on how I could fix the issue. And I feel that this allowed me to overcome my uncertainty of how I would survive the long commute to my internship. Allowing myself to make mistakes and familiarizing myself with the transportation system showed me that the commute to work, although an hour long, was actually quite simple and not as complicated as it seemed before I arrived in Berlin.

Honestly, I believe that every person who works has the fear of how their fellow coworkers will be or how their boss will be. This is extremely natural and a valid concern. However, I feel that one must just be confident in themselves and believe that the ideas and thoughts which they have to offer during their internship will be valued. If you believe in yourself, and I know it sounds very cliche, and your work ethic, your boss and coworkers will most likely love you. After meeting with my supervisor at Tip:Tap and coworkers, I realized that they are all lovely people who are passionate about their NGO and their work. Recognizing that passion and wanting to contribute to helping them achieve their goal allowed me to foster a good relationship with them.

Lastly, I had mentioned previously how there was some ambiguity in my internship regarding what I would be doing exactly. I simply navigated this by asking my supervisor what exactly she was looking for and wanted me to do, and in return I told her what I was hoping to accomplish by the end of this internship. This clear communication really helped to define my role in the NGO. Additionally, it allowed me to clear any confusion which I might have had regarding what specifically I would be doing. My supervisor and I actually spent the entire first day discussing what I would be doing, and she was very open. She in fact asked me if there was anything which I wanted to do while I was working with the company, and this allowed me to express my ideas and thoughts. After this discussion, we had both decided that it would be good for me to work on crafting a research paper, which she hopes will eventually be published. Currently, we are focused on creating an outline and compiling research on water accessibility in Berlin and how German laws and international law can be used to implement more drinking fountains in Germany.