AIFS Abroad: Intern Abroad in England

Hi there, my name is Ligon McMurry and I was an attendee of the Summer 2012 London Internship Experience studying Graphic Design. There are so many highlights from my experience that I have no idea where to start. My internship position was working for a company in Teddington, England which was one of the furthest internships away. The company was called Tru SportsWear. I stayed in the Notting Hill Nido building and met some wondering new friends who were also with Global Experiences. There were about twenty of us all together. Some of my highlights was being a part of Project Moda Season 2 in going to Italy which I have never been to. Probably the hottest day of my life it about 110 degrees I would say. Other place I went to was Oxford with a friend my internship where I worked. Me and three others who I met from another internship company also asked if I would like to get a ticket to see the USA vs France first soccer match of the Olympic Games up in Glascow, Scotland. It was so much fun! Throughout my time in London, I went on the trips that GE had for us. We went to Brighton, and to the White Cliffs of Dover. I saw three other Olympic Games which were also amazing. Eight weeks wasn't long enough I wish I could have stayed a whole year and do study abroad and travel more, but my time spent in England was well worth it and thanks to GE and our representative Melissa I felt I have grown more to know who I am as a person then when I first got there.

I have interned with GE in London twice, once during undergrad and again during grad school. Both experiences were different but equally rewarding. My internship placements were beyond my expectation. I still keep in contact with both of them and they are always willing to write me a recommendation. The accommodations are in a phenomenal location and are also a great place to meet other student outside of the GE program. I never had any issues with any of my internships but GE staff was always prompt in answering any questions I had; even ones as simple as where I could go for great Indian food. The location rep that I had is one of the best people that I have ever met and I have been fortunate enough to still stay in touch with her. Not only have I made lasting friendships with other interns in the GE program but I have also made several close relationships with others that I met while interning which has been great for traveling and always having a free place to stay!

My time with Global Experiences was generally very good. I applied late in the game, and they were very accommodating and made sure my first steps were completed in time so that I could be enrolled. From there, communication took a long dive off a cliff, however. Because I'd applied so late, I was concerned about getting my paperwork done for both the program and my visa, but when I would call with a question, it would often be days or weeks before I heard an answer. I was also talking to several different people at once, and I had no clear idea of who was doing what and who should be receiving which materials. Once I was in London, Melissa was excellent. She answered questions and had tips and pointers for everything from transportation to work to entertainment.

Placement was a bit difficult. I didn't receive my placement until about two and a half weeks before I left for London, so there was some serious concern about whether or not I would have a visa in time to travel. I had to rush order my visa and send my passport express mail just to have a prayer of getting it back in time. This was both incredibly stressful and an additional expense.

In preparing to go, I would say ask your employer what is expected of you instead of GE. I had almost a whole suitcase of business casual clothes that I never wore and did nothing but take room and weight, because I was told I would need them for my internship. As it turned out, my workplace was very laid back, and I was one of several people in this situation. The only time I needed to dress up at all was for a launch event for our summer project. What I'm saying is, ASK YOUR EMPLOYER ABOUT ATTIRE BEFORE YOU PACK. It is very possible that you will be able to wear your regular clothes for work. There will be souvenirs and food and whatever else you find to bring home that will be much more important than that extra pair of khakis.

The program itself, I enjoyed a lot. My placement was wonderful. I worked at a non-profit called the Ministry of Stories, which does writing workshops and community events for children in the surrounding neighborhood. It includes Hoxton Street Monster Supplies, whose proceeds help to fund the workshops and draw attention to the organization. It was not directly in my field, but because of the environment in which I was working, I was able to develop many professional skills which I had used only minimally in the past. Teamwork was the most important, because we were a small group of people taking on huge projects. Because of that, I was able to gain experience in several areas including public relations, marketing, data entry, event planning and some retail work. My last project was co-heading a social media takeover with the Ministry's PR coordinator. It was a lot of responsibility and the learning curve was huge, but it was ended up being brilliant and it was fun to do! Everything I did was important to the organization as a whole, and that was both educational and fulfilling.

While participating in the program, we lived at NIDO Student Center. NIDO itself was kind of dreadful, but it served its purpose well. It is better than most freshman dorm rooms, and you aren't there that much anyway. My tips would be to bring your own ethernet cable (the one they provide, which you have to purchase, is short and there is only wifi in the common areas) and don't eat there unless you have to, the exception being good coffee.

GE did a very good job pairing us with roommates. My roommate and I, while very different, were great living together. Because of the dorm style of NIDO, we quickly made friends with the people living in the rooms next to us. It was a way that made a huge new place feel a bit smaller and more manageable, and it helped to have a friend right off the bat.

I did not participate in many social aspects of the program. The welcome bus tour was excellent, despite the rain, especially since we did it the first day. It gave us a good feeling of where things generally were in the city as well as making us aware that we were really in London. There were three weekend day trips, one each to Dover, Brighton and Greenwich. I went to Greenwich, and we had a tour and then were given a couple hours to enjoy the area. There were also pub nights, a welcome and farewell dinner, and a couple of other things along the way. I enjoyed what I participated in, but I generally felt as though I'd rather be doing something else. There were a lot of cultural activities, both British and otherwise, that GE could have exposed us to, but I had more luck discovering on my own. For instance, NIDO was within 15 minutes walking of a whole street of amazing ethnic restaurants, everything from British pub food to Mexican to Turkish to Thai, and the only place we went as a group was a pub and a chain Indian restaurant that wasn't very good.

In many ways, Global Experiences is what got me to London more than what made the trip for me. I fell in love with the city and the people, and the most memorable parts of the experience were the things I did on my own or with friends: I was able to take two weekend trips and several day trips, and though I spent as many days as possible sightseeing in London, I only scratched the surface of what the city had to offer. I was also lucky enough to be there during the Olympics, so I went to the opening ceremony concert at Hyde Park and two football matches in Manchester. I made friends with program participants, as I mentioned before, and with locals I met at the pubs or at work, many of whom I'm still in contact with.

Overall, I had a wonderful summer, but it had very little to do with Global Experiences. Your internship experience will be what you make of it. Take advantage of the city and surrounding area and be the best employee you can be, and it will be worth every once of stress and every penny spent it took to get you there.

London 2012 with GE was my second internship experience in GE. I would recommend the program to anyone who wants to develop their resume and professional contacts.

Housing:
A good chunk of the GE's fee goes to housing; the London program featured NEW central London apartments in an extremely safe neighbourhood. You get what you pay for; central London is expensive and living closer to the job saves you quite a bit with London's infamous transportation costs. The building that was selected had high security (Which the last program had as well) and impeccable facilities.

If you like a good party and the hustle of the city don't think twice about living in central London. Getting back home after a night out is a breeze when you live in the centre of the city.

Support:
The staff at GE is very good at the jobs that they do. Their records on your program and progress are always updated so that almost all staff members can get quickly acquainted with case and answer questions. If you have an issue and need a response, the office is incredible at getting back to you.

I also had a quick turnaround time with my placement and visa process. This is part of the process with getting a UK work visa (it does suck). I also wanted something very specific (Environmental policy research) so I waited longer than some in the program. GE promises to get you position and they don't pick cruddy placements so have faith in the wait. Always keep in mind that GE works with real employers to hire you; getting hired depends on the market and your qualifications.

Facilities:
The best thing about the London program is Melissa (On site GE rep). Melissa is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to resumes, cover letters, and interviews. As a graduate looking for employment I found Melissa's advice and willingness to help to be one of the BEST points of the program.

Fun:
The summer group was amazing. Since everyone lived together it was so easy to make plans and connect with people in a very alienating city. The GE events are well planned and are an easy way to see other parts of London or England. The fun you have is dependent on you; there was rarely a dull moment so it was up to us to seize the day.

Safety:
The building had such a high level of security it is almost an annoyance. High security buildings seem to be the norm in GE programs and it is well worth the cost. It was reassuring to see resident advisers in the dorms because the group was so large and it is always nice to be able to pick up the phone and talk with Melissa if anything with work or life went awry.

I chose GE because I wanted to Intern abroad rather than study. Their Student Affairs guy, Alex, was the first person I talked to. He was incredibly nice and very helpful. He made me feel like that's how the whole process would go. There would be webinars to prepare me, yadda yadda yadda. I signed up for the program in July of 2011 to travel summer 2012. I didn't hear from anyone at GE again after the payments started rolling in. I thought "well it's still a long way away. Maybe there's not much I can do right now." They made me feel like I had to secure my spot in the London program NOW or I wouldn't get to go (because of the Olympics). So that's what I did.

After a whole semester of basically nothing happening (not hearing from anyone at GE, not knowing WHEN I would be placed in an internship, nothing), I emailed Alex and asked him what I should be doing right now. He directed me to this portal where there was a million bajillion things of paperwork for me to do. Cool... so I did the paperwork. It's now Spring and I still don't have an internship. This is important because I can't apply for my UK Visa until I have an employer to list on the application...so after waiting and waiting, I FINALLY get my first interview in LATE APRIL. I leave June 8th... this is really pushing it, but it's still doable. I interviewed with this employer and one other employer before being placed in my internship on May 12th...3 weeks before I should be on a plane to London.

I scramble to get all of the ridiculous Visa requirements done, while also taking finals and finishing out my school year, and get everything mailed off to the UK Border Agency 5 days before I'm supposed to leave. I had to pay extra to have it overnighted (GE didn't cover that) and pay to have the Visa rush processed (GE didn't cover that either). I'm not sure why I was made to feel like I needed to jump on signing up for this program LAST JULY if I wasn't going to be able to move forward with anything until the last possible minute. In case you wondering...no I didn't get to London on my originally scheduled flight. I had to pay US Airways another $300 to change my flight, I lost an entire week in London and at my Internship (I asked if I could be moved to second session so I didn't lose any time and they said no). I was not offered to be reimbursed for my flight change or offered to stay an extra week (even though I paid for it) and other people were offered both of those things.

My time in London was fine. I had fun, but I worked a lot. To anyone out there considering interning abroad...think really hard. I prefer working to going to school, but it really doesn't leave a lot of time for just relaxing and enjoying the country you're in. My company was nice enough to give me a week off at the end of my internship so I got to see everything I wanted to see before I left.

Once I got to London, Melissa, my GE coordinator, was pretty good. She was helpful whenever she could be, etc. But most of the time, we were all on our own figuring everything out by ourselves.

If I were you (assuming "you" are a college student seeking an internship for school credit or just wanting to study abroad for school credit) I would go through my study abroad office at my university and do whatever they recommend. I did this all on my own and it was an epic fail.

I studied abroad through the AIFS London internship. I took a couple of classes through the university and interned full time at E!Entertainment. It was the best semester of my college experience!
We lived in dorms in Kensington (Central London) and I was able to take a bus to the Piccadilly/Soho area for my internship. Through living in dorms and attending some classes I met some great American friends, through my internship at E! I met some great local friends. I keep in touch with both groups of friends.
Through my internship and classes I learn a lot about international business and it ultimately helped me find a great job out of college.

This program is amazing, specifically the international internship program. The experience was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It provided a real chance to experience British culture. The course, Contemporary British Culture, was extremely enjoyable and the internship I was placed in was my favorite part of my time in London. The dorm in Kensington wasn't amazing, but the location was. It was so close to everything in central London. The program provided tickets to a lot of fun events and outings, including a cruise down the Thames, which offers some of the best views of London.