Intern in Italy with World Internships!

What originally inspired you to intern in Florence with World Internships?

Melea: I am about half Italian and I have always wanted to go to Italy, not only because that is where most of my family still lives, but because I have a love for the architecture, the culture, and the art. Italy is also full of fashion and my internship was in fashion photography.

Describe your day to day activities as an intern in Florence, Italy.

Melea: For the first few weeks I only attended Italian classes, Monday - Friday from 9-12:30 with a 30 minute break in the middle. Our teacher was great and I learned so much from her. Then I started my internship. I would walk to work every morning Monday - Friday at 9:45 and earlier if we had a photo shoot that day.

At first I only worked mornings but then as I got to know the studio more I worked afternoons as well. I assisted on photo shoots and learned a lot about lighting. Since my Italian wasn't that great and my mentors didn't speak too much English I learned a lot through observing and asking simple questions. They were always willing to answer and help me understand why the used a certain light or positioned it the way they did. I helped with the set up of the set and with some computer work.

How has this experience impacted your future?

Melea: I have taken a previous internship and many photo classes before so I knew a lot about camera work. What I needed was more experience with studio lighting and that is exactly what I got. I also learned to pay close attention to detail. If it can be fixed or avoided when shooting there is less work when it comes to Photoshop.

Being in Italy in general provided me with photos taken on my own for my portfolio. I was given the weekends off and took time to travel to other cities. Florence was the perfect place to live. Rome and Venice are huge and Pisa is small. Siena is a bit confusing and Viareggio is a small costal town. All were amazing to visit. I gained experience and internship credits for my schooling. The overall experience was great and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

How do you think intern abroad and international education will change over the next 10 years?

Aiyana: I think that international internships will become much more commonplace, kind of like studying abroad is now. We live in an increasingly globalized society and being able to work and interact with people from all over the world is an essential skill.

At the same time, finding employment right after graduating from college doesn't appear to be getting any easier. I think that students and recent graduates will see that with an internship abroad, they can have an experience similar to a traditional study abroad program and simultaneously pursue their career goals.

Which intern abroad destination is most underrated? Conversely, which is most overrated?

Aiyana: Which countries are underrated? Any country outside of Europe! I totally understand why interns and students want to go to Europe but there are so many other wonderful countries that we offer placement in. Sometimes people aren't aware that certain countries are really flourishing in a particular field so they never consider interning there.

Who knew that Vietnam was a great place for computer engineering or that Australia is perfect for psychology placements? Part of my job is informing students about which countries would be suited to their field of interest. I love when I'm able to get a student really excited about doing an internship in a country they might never have thought had what they were looking for!

What was your favorite traveling experience?

Aiyana: I have had many life-changing experiences abroad, but I think that participating in everyday life abroad is what's stuck with me the most. Observing and engaging in the same everyday activities that residents do was more eyeopening to me than say, visiting a popular tourist destination (not that I didn't also greatly enjoy those!).

Simply living my life in another country is what really changed my perspective in the long run. However, I will say that being a part of a Swedish crawfish eating party was one of the more interesting things that's happened to me overseas!

Describe a time when you felt especially proud to be part of the World Internships team.

Aiyana: Since I'm usually the first person on the World Internships team to interact with potential interns, I'm always aware that I have the opportunity to change lives!

I feel proud anytime one of our program coordinator tells me that they've found a great internship for a student I've gotten to know well. I'm always really excited for them and really proud of all of our coordinators for finding them an internship that I'm sure they'll love.