Somehow, my time in South Korea has come to an end already.

My experiences with this internship in South Korea have been very transformative for my professional identity and personal interests. I worked for Korea Volunteer Agency as an Operations Intern for two months. The company works within the cultural experience industry, sending Korean clients to volunteer or intern abroad within different industries according to their personal and professional goals. Some of the most popular industries we helped students place into were as a Hotelier, Camp Counsellors, and Teaching Assistants in various English speaking countries. As an employee from the U.S. with native English skills, I mainly oversaw the company’s English study services for our clients preparing for work abroad. Everyday, I would have different calls with various students in the form of mock interviews, small talks, or situational talk sessions after an initial English level evaluation interview. This would help the students prepare for interviews and daily tasks conducted in English while abroad and also allows for the students to feel more comfortable with their speaking abilities. Another aspect of my internship was to research potential partnership organizations or companies that KVA could try and reach out to. This side of my work was very self-paced and was useful for finding new industries in different countries to market to new clients as well. The majority of the job was to actively apply and email different companies for students to possibly interview and work with abroad. This task included close knowledge of each client’s professional and academic backgrounds, as well as any skills or hobbies that may benefit an application based on the industry they’re looking for. With consistent emailing and coordination between client and company, our work was successful when our clients scored interviews and utilized my feedback and critiques of their English interviewing skills throughout the hiring process. 

I know that I have grown a lot from this international internship experience in different ways. Professionally, I have been able to practice and refine my technical skills—I have become more confident and comfortable in my professional writing skills, as well as being a more decisive communicator. While calling our clients, I became somewhat of a teacher and leader to them. As a younger student myself, I started off feeling unsure about how I should carry myself during our calls. A lot of the content and questions asked were outside of my knowledge, particularly when speaking with them about professional interviewing skills and specific aspects of their industries. However, I have grown to be able to think fast, adapt, and communicate clearly with confidence and assertiveness. From this, I have also learned a lot about how to do a proper interview myself, which is helpful for my future as a professional. On an academic level, I have grown to appreciate even more how influential an international experience is for my own goals and aspirations. I already knew a lot about Korea prior to starting my internship, but I was able to unlock and understand the business world within Korean culture, and how their specific norms and practices make working different from what I am used to. Within these two months, I have been able to connect with Korea in an even deeper and more personal way than ever before. I have been able to live and exist within different aspects of Korean society while studying abroad and working here, which allowed me to gain so much access to Korean culture and daily operations—now I feel satisfied with my time spent in South Korea.  

I plan to use what I have learned from this internship program—in terms of professional skills and cultural learnings—to pursue higher education and career opportunities in International Development. This experience has broadened my horizons and has made me want to pursue a career that is impactful to international populations. Even though my internship company was small, I still participated in assisting Korean clients in securing positions in different countries which was a very gratifying and fulfilling experience. At Pitt, I also hope to be able to spread my knowledge about these international opportunities, so that undergraduate students like me can share the takeaways that I have gained from my experiences. 

Thank you to my scholarship and grant donors for contributing to this experience and giving me the opportunity to expand on my knowledge and global citizenship. I am truly grateful for the support to learn even more about South Korea and what it feels like to assimilate myself into a different culture. These global experiences do not just fuel my desire to learn even more about the world, but give me the chance to contribute what I have learned to the University of Pittsburgh and its surrounding communities. 

While it is sad to say that this program is over, my internship has left me with very impactful and unforgettable memories!