AIFS Abroad: Intern Abroad in Spain

What was surprising to me and the best part of my experience during this internship, was the placement. I was placed in a co-working space founded by my boss, who also had an interior design office. I was able to learn a lot about a branch of architecture which was not my strength and made in part of my knowledge. I got to get to apply my new discoveries from my internship and the city's highlight in my last year of college. I would fully recommend this program who any person interested on interning during college and more in summer, because it's different than you expect. Barcelona was an amazing city to discover, especially for someone with an architecture major like me. I think people need and deserve this life changing experiences......

Saying that this summer has been amazing would be an understatement! I had the best time interning at a luxury and bespoke trip planning company through Global Experiences. Starting from day 1 of enrollment into the program, the GE staff has been there for me through resume and cover letter support, personality tests, interview preps and in every way possible to ensure I had a placement that I would mesh well with. And I did! I loved the company I got placed in and working with my bosses. We got along very well and every day at work was interesting and pushed my best self to come out! I would actually look forward to work because every day would be a new challenge! Over the transition period when we moved into Spain and throughout the summer as a whole, the GE program advisors in Barcelona - Inma and Saskia, have gone above and beyond in making sure that everyone in the program has a smooth tansition into Barcelona and an awesome summer. From handing minor on-site issues to arranging several local trips to experience the culture, the GE team has been an amazing support system! Interning abroad this summer has been an experience that I will cherish forever and the connections and friendships made here will always remain close to my heart. I have been saying "can this internship never end" since week 1 and I will keep saying it until I get on that flight to leave (then it'll be "take me back")! I recommend grabbing this opportunity with GE because it really is more than just an internship abroad - it is a life-changing experience full of personal and professional growth!

I had an amazing experience and loved the location and the staff. My homestay mom was great! She cooked amazing food, was such a sweetheart and treated me like if I was her own daughter with so much love! I loved the excursion to Morocco, it was well organized and I had a great experience. Im happy I was able to see Morocco with AIFS because I don't know how I would've travelled their on my own. AIFS offers so many scholarships and made it possible despite of the roadblocks. I was able to win a scholarship of over $6,500. I was a first generation student so studying abroad was really getting me out of my comfort zone since being a student at a university was already an experience. AIFS is very inclusive and amazing! They have so many opportunities for many diverse groups as well!

My experience interning abroad has been life changing. I had three goals when I landed. To enhance my Spanish-speaking skills, make a difference in my internship, and travel. I am happy to say that successfully completed all three of my goals. I got to practice my Spanish daily in Barcelona and lost the fear of making mistakes and just let it out. I was able to help my internship organization with some very important documents, gain hands-on experience in the clinical field, and conduct a educational intervention in the organization that raised awareness about HIV/AIDS to each client who came in for testing. Finally, in three months I was able to travel to 9 countries and 22 cities. I would recommend going abroad to every single person and hope that you take full advantage of such an incredible opportunity.

I had three goals when in mind when going abroad and those were to gain experience at my internship, enhance speaking skills, and travel around Europe. I am happy to say I successfully did all three!! During my internship I was able to gain hands on experience in a clinical setting, which was beneficial for me because I want to pursue nursing in the future. I let go of the fear of making mistakes and was able to practice my Spanish with locals. Lastly I was able to travel all throughout Europe. During my time here I travel to 9 different countries and 22 different cities. As you can imagine I was very busy and enjoyed every minute of it. I highly recommend this program to future interns and promise that you will love it as long as you take full advantage of it.

This has been an experience of a lifetime, and something I will never forget. It helped me grow in all aspects in just three months and for that I am forever thankful.

I feel deeply changed and I’m so excited and motivated to continue living life the way that this program has taught me.

Can’t recommend Global experiences enough’

I started out by just wanting to know more information about interning abroad - I just didn’t feel like studying abroad was my thing.

I had a couple of options and after receiving that first phone call from Global experiences I bailed on the rest of my options because GE was so welcoming and warm and I just couldn’t say no to them!

They helped me instantly and there was 100% support from day one and it was great!!

The program all together was lovely, and it made everything easy!

Going to a different country is intimidating but GE made it so exciting and I felt safe and guarded

This is the best decision I’ve ever made in my life!

Coming here was one of the biggest and best decisions of my life. I wasn't sure what to expect at first and had a lot of questions and concerns. The GE team made sure I was 100% cared for and answered any and all of the questions I had! My biggest concern when applying is that I wouldn't be able to get an internship specifically in the field of Human Resources as it wasn't one of the placements offered on the site for Barcelona. After communicating with them exactly what I was looking for and seeing what options I had, they found the absolute perfect placement in HR for me in my first-choice location!
I truly felt like they went the extra mile to make sure that I was happy from start to finish (and beyond) with this program. Our program Director, Inma, is so positive, fun and always ready to help! Absolutely anything we needed, she was on top of it. The group excursions with her were always stellar and I feel super lucky to have had her as our Director. Shoutout to Katherine and Chrissie as well for being amazing with staying in contact, checking in, and being so helpful, especially at the early stages of this program! The GE staff is so great!!
I can't even begin to explain how much this program and internship has postitively impacted my life. Not only did I get the wonderful opportunity to explore a whole new world and experience a beautiful culture and make tons of new friends from all around Europe, but now I have impressive job experience under my belt that already has and will continue to help me in my future career endeavors.

As a recent graduate, Global Experiences was a great program to utilize as I am still determining what type of career I'm interested in pursuing and was interested in traveling before settling down. Based off of our conversations throughout the application process, my internship placement was spot on. Although I didn't feel entirely passionate about the work I was assigned, it was an excellent opportunity to learn more about what direction I would actually like to move towards in my future positions. I couldn't have asked for better employers. As I don't speak Spanish, they were always open to helping me throughout any obstacles I encountered, gave me a ton of tips about Barcelona, and were always available to answer any questions I had.

I believe being abroad in general after graduating is a unique and special opportunity. The challenges of traveling most weekends have made me feel more independent than ever before and I believe I'm more adaptable because of this experience. Being away from what I know and am comfortable with has given me the chance to really tune in to what I want out of my future.

To all future participants, definitely take advantage of every moment you have in your city. If you're like me, you'll travel most weekends. Don't let that affect what you experience here in Barcelona or whatever host city you may choose. Even if you're tired after a long day of work, drink that extra shot of espresso, and get out and explore.