It’s hard to believe that my time in Sydney is done! I truly had one of the best experiences of my life, and I will remember my time here forever. I was able to grow personally, academically, and professionally, and for that I am so grateful. The people truly made the place, and I can’t wait to keep in touch with my new friends at Pitt, other universities in the United States, the CEA CAPA staff, and my internship coworkers. I feel so lucky that I got to travel to such a unique and beautiful country.
I got the opportunity to intern at an AI consulting start-up. This experience was new to me and took a little bit of getting used to. But, at the end of the six weeks, I can confidently say that I further developed key soft skills that will lend well to my future experiences back home. Communication was a big soft skill that I strengthened. I have never worked in a start-up environment, which is always changing and super fast-paced. This tested how well I could communicate my needs and give live updates to my coworkers. For example, one day we were working with a super tight deadline before going to a client site. That entire day was spent collaborating and communicating about preparation for the client visit. There was so much back and forth, and it was necessary for me to communicate quickly and effectively. Another soft skill, especially in relation to the nature of start-up culture, was being flexible and adaptable. Each day at my internship looked completely different. I had to jump into whatever was needed at the time. This was definitely a struggle at first, as I like to see the follow-through of projects until they are complete. However, in some instances, I had to jump ship and begin another project with a more pressing deadline. This helped me prioritize many tasks.
Overall, I had such a wonderful time and I am so grateful for every second of it! My new experiences and the takeaways I had from taking classes and interning in a completely new environment will serve me well back at Pitt. I really stepped out of my comfort zone over the past six weeks, which will encourage me to put myself out there and try new things. I will bring this attitude to Pitt Business, both in my classes and extracurriculars.
