Connect-123 Business Internships

From a very young age, I dreamed of going to South Africa. Before summer would arrive, I would go to my parents, and show them brochures of student programs I had requested to receive in the mail, and of course -- every year their answer would be no. They thought I was too young and that South Africa was far too unsafe.

After many years, of trying to convince my parents, I finally decided that I would go to Cape Town the summer after I graduated from college no matter what -- even if that meant postponing my job hunting. Of course, my parents were not very thrilled. Like any parents, they had safety concerns and were worried about me finding a job after graduation. In hindsight, these should not have been worries -- since Connect123 provided me with work experience that has become a talking point in almost all interviews, and provided me with the knowledge and support to easily navigate Cape Town.

Overall, Connect123 was able to find me an internship that fit my interests and backgrounds to a tee -- something I could have never done had I gone through the application process alone. I worked at a startup where I also gained more of an insight into South Africa's booming entrepreneurial culture.

On the side, because Connect123 hosts plenty of students from all over, I was able to easily make friends and meet people who would be willing to explore Cape Town and the rest of South Africa with me. We abseiled down Table Mountain, hiked Devil's Peak, travelled through South Africa's Garden Route where we went on an elephant encounter and crept through caves. We organized a trip to Kruger, and I even explored South Africa's neighbor, Namibia.

All in all, if you are having some of the same concerns I was having before I left, my advice to you would be to just go. You will gain much more work and life experience than you will ever gain in two months' time.

The Social Entrepreneurship program with Connect-123 was nothing of what I expected to say the least. The first thing I learned is that you can't guess what the experience is going to be like until you get out there and do it. Learning business in the class room is one thing, but getting into the real world and facing real challenges is another. Through the program's real life experiences coupled with the classroom training, I feel much more prepared to enter the business wold for myself than ever before. The guidance I received along the way gave me the confidence to take on business ventures without fearing being left out in the dark. If you have any interest in going into the business world, I would definitely recommend spending a semester in Cape Town to prepare yourself to face the challenges the world has to throw at you.

Choosing Connect-123 to help me find an internship abroad was the best decision I could have ever made. From the first e-mail I sent inquiring more about the company and what it offered, I was constantly and quickly assisted by the program staff who worked extremely hard to find me the perfect internship. I had the rare opportunity to work in a developing web start-up in beautiful Barcelona and gained international business experience that I personally think is more valuable than an internship I otherwise would have held in the states.

Aside from my highly rewarding work experience, I also was able to learn and grow so much under Connect's support--from planning festive, cultural activities around Barcelona to telling us about the more underground, local offerings of the city, I was able to leave my summer in Spain feeling as though I truly had found a new home.

I definitely recommend Connect for anyone looking to have a life-changing time spent abroad, and I guarantee you will have an unforgettable experience!