¡Hola! My name is Marley Pinsky and I am a rising senior studying Politics-Philosophy with a minor in Spanish. I’m originally from a DC suburb called Clarksburg, Maryland, and I love reading, exploring cities, and playing and seeing music. This fall, I’ll be starting graduate classes through a 4+1 program at Pitt’s School of Public and International Affairs, where I’ll earn a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Urban Planning. In my career, I hope to fight for housing justice in some capacity, whether as a developer, policymaker, urban planner, or tenant lawyer. The international internship program in Madrid is the perfect combination of three of my current biggest goals: 1. Gain fluency in Spanish through immersion. 2. Gain professional experience that will help me develop ideas about my career. 3. Travel the world and have fun.

I could not be more thrilled about my internship placement. This summer, I’ll be interning with ActionAid, a nonprofit human rights organization dedicated to fighting poverty and injustice. I’ll be splitting my time between their Spain office, where I’ll be assisting with a training program for humanitarian aid volunteers, and the EU office, where I’ll be helping with communications for multiple global advocacy campaigns. My Politics-Philosophy coursework has given me a strong intellectual background on human rights and social justice, and I’m very eager to be part of a concrete effort in these fields. Last fall, I took a class called “Politics of Human Rights” with one of my favorite professors, Dr. Michael Goodhart, which critically analyzed traditional human rights approaches for failing to center the people they claim to advocate for. I am excited to work for a human rights organization and evaluate how the theories we discussed in class play out in my real experience. I am also excited to learn more about EU politics, a topic I haven’t studied as much, by working for an organization trying to influence them.

In a professional sense, this internship is radically different from anything I’ve ever done. Most of my professional experience comes from activities I’ve done on campus, such as working for the Frederick Honors College’s Office of Community Engaged Learning and serving as President of the Student Government Board. My one internship experience was with Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, the representative community organization for the neighborhood Pitt calls home. After working at the most local levels possible, interning for an international human rights organization while living in Madrid is about as different as it gets. I’m excited to diversify my experiences and learn more about my own interests. Even if I don’t do anything in the future related to international politics or affairs, I believe that all social justice struggles are intertwined. Learning to identify community needs, root causes, and sources of power will help me tackle problems wherever I go.

Lastly, from a personal perspective, I am excited to grow in ways beyond what I can predict. I generally consider myself very open-minded and I love trying new things, but this program is the furthest I’ve gone outside of my comfort zone. I fly out of DC this evening, and all morning my mind has been playing a movie of what life might be like in Madrid. All week I’ve been plotting weekend side quests across Spain, coordinating a trip to my friend’s home in Italy, and even picking out the “books I read in Madrid.” I’ve been planning for what I can control because I know I’m about to enter a period of completely unfamiliarity. But I’m excited for all these unknowns to be filled in with new realities. I am excited for all the highlights and the mundanity. My biggest hope is to be as present as possible and absorb everything so I can come back with more stories than I can tell.