SageCorps - Lisbon

This past summer, I interned in Lisbon with Sage Corps. I'd like to start off by giving a shoutout to André Maurício, as he was so helpful as a city manager, especially when I was under the weather. Other than that, I didn't have the best experience. Internship-wise, I was working only with two other employees that were in a romantic relationship. This was a tough situation, and I didn't feel that I could communicate with them. There was a power imbalance as this was the entire company. Though many startups are similar, there were too many factors that added up to make it just a terrible experience. They hadn't had an intern before, and it showed. At the end of the internship, after previously-signed contracts and many difficulties, my food stipend was even reduced. My commute was an hour longer than I was told, and at SageCorps they do not give you funds for transportation. I did not receive much help while expressing my concerns from SageCorps, and had to stick with it. I did my very best, and was incredibly upset when one failure I had resulted in an entire stipend cut in half. My apartment was infested with silverfish, of which I did not receive help from SageCorps for either.

I loved the city of Lisbon and my city manager André, but would not recommend this program for the expensive price that it is and the low support you are given.