About the Internship Experience

For my internship experience, I interned in the Bureau for Educational & Cultural Affairs, assisting on the International Visitors Leadership Program. More broadly, the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote friendly and peaceful relations. This is accomplished through academic, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges that engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in the United States and more than 160 countries. The International Visitors Leadership Program is the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders in a variety of fields experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts.

Reflections

Throughout my experience, I have helped with programming; writing talking points for leadership and meeting notes; database management and data visualizations; co-drafting an article online, which is available to the public; being a panelist for a youth program event; and coordinated inter-office communications. Nonetheless, I have learned and strengthened my skills in both written and oral communication; interpersonal skills; leadership skills; subject knowledge on a variety of countries; and networking.

Overall, this internship experience was one of the most influential experiences that I’ve ever had. It only makes me more enthusiastic and excited about my potential in working for the U.S. government in some capacity one day.