I have never experienced two months that have challenged me more than my past two months in Paris. Between cultural differences, acclimating to professional work life (9-18:00 work day), and trying to make time to explore the city, this experience has taught me more than I could have ever anticipated. Reflecting back, here are some…
Tag: Brooke Ervin
IIP Paris 2017 Student
The Wind-Down Towards Vacation
As the month of July quickly approaches, there has been a shift in the energy of the office. When I first arrived, we had 5 interns, two assistants, and the Directrice. Now, it is just one assistant, the Directrice, and myself. At first it was really difficult to adjust to a smaller team because there…
Cultural Differences
I think the largest cultural difference is just the openness of Americans versus the closed-off nature of the French. I feel that the French are very introspective and less willing to strike up conversations with strangers. Along these lines, the French also smile much less than Americans, and a smile is seen as an invitation…
Value Network Principles
NGO’s are interesting businesses to be working for because their sources of funding and allocation of resources differs dramatically from for-profit businesses. My company relies on funds to support our overseas projects in Haiti, Senegal, and Madagascar, as well as for funding the two salary workers, and maintenance of our office here in France. Our…
Current Attitude Towards Travel
In all honesty, traveling in Europe during this political climate is not easy. In the past two months the UK has seen three terrorist attacks, some just blocks away from where my friends live. I purchased a ticket to London just days before the most recent attack, and still have to decide if I am…
The French Environment
In today’s age, there are many factors that impact non-governmental organizations and their functioning. I never realized how much paperwork is involved in the maintenance of an organization such as this. They have to keep track of virtually every donation, dollar, and volunteer/worker that comes their way. On the political front, all the girls in…
A word to my one-week younger self
Is this real life? The days here have been flying by and with that, I have noticed a significant amount of change and growth. Being thrown in to the work environment just a week before my company’s biggest event of the year was quite challenging. I was being given dozens of tasks, or “missions,” per…
The first days…
Bonjour tout le monde! I am interning for a humanitarian association in Paris, which is a non-profit association focused on children at risk, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations. There are committed to supporting children into adulthood if they cannot return to their families, and have been in existence for 20 years. Their fundraising efforts fund…
Meet the IIP Student Bloggers for Summer 2017!
Welcome to the International Internship Study Abroad Program! IIP Blog Overview The International Internship Program (IIP) is a unique study abroad opportunity that allows driven students to partake in a full-time, summer-long internship in one of six countries across the globe. Each IIP student participates in a program long blogging initiative to share their experiences with their…
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