Why do an internship abroad? – Emily Curtis

Hola a todos! I´m Emily, a southwest London undergrad currently in my penultimate year (in industry) of Management with Spanish studies, giving you the run-down of my year-long internship abroad in Madrid with the British Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber, whose mission is to facilitate the international business growth and development between Spain and the UK, caught my interest as an incoming Investment Management Analyst with Morgan Stanley, as it provides the opportunity to understand international business between two differing cultures and perspectives through networking and events that capitalize on this relationship like bilateral forums and cocktail parties. As an investment manager I will need to be able to work with global investors´ money and be able to help them reach their financial goals regardless of their business culture style and norms and working at the Chamber has given me invaluable experience and insight into this intercultural communication.

So far, I have been offered so many opportunities both in my business and personal life from this internship abroad. Being in Spain has meant that I have been able to travel around the country on my weekends (and abundance of bank holidays) to soak up the culture from many of the different autonomous regions such as going to Las Fallas festival in Valencia or going to the Feria in Sevilla. In the Spanish business world, through the Chamber I have been offered endless networking opportunities and access to some very influential contacts.

If I could give past me one piece of advice about what to expect from your year abroad, it would be: be prepared to be thrown into the unknown and be patient with yourself! Compared to people who chose the study abroad path, in completing an internship your Spanish will excel much faster as you don´t have as many chances to speak in English. I found it tough work transitioning from previous university life where we had a Spanish lesson or two a week to working in Spanish from 9-5 every day, but with time you will find that you become more comfortable and confident with your Spanish. If it makes you feel any better, I had a constant headache for the first few weeks!

In a nutshell, don´t try to rush the immersion into both Spain and your internship, give yourself the time to settle in and adjust to the new lifestyle – most of all remember to be patient, explore and disfruta!

Studying abroad – Student testimonials from National University of Singapore

As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

National University of Singapore – Singapore (Part 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Hanna 
Subject: Psychology

Hanna applied to NUS with the desire to experience education outside of Europe and has now found herself enjoying a wide variety of modules that few universities outside of Southeast Asia cover.  

 

She praised NUS’ academics greatly, saying the lecturers were highly passionate about their subjects, that the modules were “really, really good”, and that the range of modules on offer to her, including Malay studies, Arabic, Gender Studies and Islam, and South Asia in Singapore have let her experience academia outside of Psychology – her subject at King’s. She was definitely happy with doing a year-long exchange, and noted it was much easier than she thought it would be to adjust to living in Singapore. 

 

Hanna also noted that the variety of orientation events, society meetings, and campus nature of the university was a major plus, as it let her easily get involved in NUS and its culture. In fact, there were some things, such as Tchoukball Society, which she had never even heard of before going to NUS, and she was impressed by the variety of cultural, religious, and interest societies available on campus. Some of her accommodation hallmates even took a volunteering trip to the Himalayas! The campus felt alive in her experience and always had something exciting going on that she could visit, whether a food court or a small business stall run by students, or various employer events and career festivals. 

 

Outside of university, Hanna has so far visited Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and encourages students to take advantage of Singapore’s location and “travel, travel, travel” as much as possible. Before she leaves Singapore, once her assignments are complete, she plans to use the next holiday period to visit Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, and further explore Singapore. 

Studying abroad – Student testimonials from National University of Singapore

As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

National University of Singapore – Singapore (Part 1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Alina 
Subject: History

Alina was keen to study abroad from the moment she started her second year, recognising the opportunity this would give her to get out of her bubble in the UK. This led her halfway across the world, and she found herself spending the second semester of her second year at the National University of Singapore, as she saw this as a unique opportunity to live and study outside of Europe.

She recognised quickly that NUS’ wide offering of modules let her study new subjects that weren’t available back at KCL – alongside two History-related modules, she was able to take a course about ‘Food in Japan’ and on ’Bollywood Cinema’. She chose her history courses with the hope that she could learn about European and Asian History from an Asian perspective, and particularly enjoyed her more interdisciplinary ‘War on Civilians’ module, which incorporated elements of law and international relations into history. The Food in Japan module frequently had guest lecturers fly in from Japan, involved food tasting and article writing assignments, and explored the history of Japanese food and its connections with other Asian nations in great depth.
 

Outside of her classes, Alina was an active member of NUS’ Netball society and encourages students to get involved in the variety of interest groups available on campus and take advantage of being in Singapore! During her time off, apart from travelling to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan, Alina recommends going to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve’s Night Safari, taking part in local celebrations, whether Lunar New Year or Eid, seeing the famous SuperTree Grove in person, attending Singapore’s many art exhibitions, temples, and beaches, and of course sampling the variety of food available in Singapore, which she says was a highlight. 

 

Her experience was made better by her accommodation, which she described as providing plenty of opportunities to make friends with locals and tours of the campus for new students, complete with accommodation-wide dinners. 

 

In short, studying abroad in Singapore was a rewarding and exciting experience that she recommends to anyone interested in the region, and hopes to reassure everyone that both the academic and social environments are highly enjoyable, and that studying abroad, whether for a semester or year, is a unique, highly enjoyable way to see more of the world and get outside of your bubble. 

Studying abroad – Student testimonials from McGill University

As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

McGill University – Canada

McConnell Ice hockey arena, McGill University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Katie  

Subject: Economics  

Katie spent a semester of her second year abroad at McGill University in Canada. Katie was sure she wanted studying abroad to be a key part of her university experience, and chose Economics at King’s in part because of the opportunities it offered in Canada, which she always knew was going to be her first choice.  

 

A big draw of studying abroad was to experience living in a new city and country, and McGill’s offering of the US system of schooling and campus-based nature made it a perfect place to visit. Katie took full advantage of the Canadian schooling system, and reflecting upon it, found herself grateful to have the opportunity to have one of the best experiences of her life. 

 

 She also took advantage of Canada’s location in her free time, taking a quick trip down to the US during McGill’s holiday season. This included going sightseeing in New York with a friend for a few days, where she went to various museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, and Museum of Natural History, tried American food, and experienced New York’s way of life.

 

Studying abroad – Student testimonials from Yonsei University

As part of our new blog series, we have compiled some testimonials from students about their experiences studying abroad and with the Global Mobility Office. The testimonials are sorted by region and cover a wide range of subjects, departments, and universities in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

Yonsei University – South Korea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student: Elena 

Subject: Physics and Philosophy

Many Physics students spend a summer working in a lab, gaining research and work experience. Elena followed this path—however, her lab experience took her all the way to Korea, where she spent 7 weeks as a summer exchange student at Yonsei University. She felt applying to Yonsei would be a great opportunity to mix her desire to both study and work abroad, and during her time there, she took advantage of every opportunity Yonsei had on offer. Elena’s day would start with classes in computational mathematics, which were followed with an hour working in a lab researching medical physics, and then Korean classes.

Each part of her experience at Yonsei was enriching in its own right. Her morning classes let her dive deeper into different parts of Physics with expert professors, whilst the Korean classes offered a great opportunity to study a language in an intense, formal setting with real-world practice opportunities just outside. In her lab research, she was the only undergrad among 7 PhD students , providing her with many mentorship opportunities and a unique experience of high-level research that few other students have.

However, these courses only took up 4 days each week. In her spare time, Elena took advantage of Yonsei’s central location to explore all of Seoul, travelling with friends to old imperial palaces, amusement parks, local hiking routes, mountains, famous restaurants, and even booked weekend trips to other parts of Korea, such as Busan.  

 

Overall, Yonsei presented a highly rewarding and enjoyable experience for Elena—even if she does remark that it was, at times, quite intense. She highly recommends Yonsei to anyone curious about Korean culture, and studying  abroad as a way of gaining unique work, academic, and cultural experience in a place of interest for you.