London Interns Prepared for Future

Former London Interns discussed how their placements and study abroad experiences have helped them focus on their career plans. Jeannette Salinas and Ryan Frederick sat down with the London Center staff to conduct video interviews. 

Jeannette, a University of Texas Austin student and International Relations and Global Studies major, interned with a criminal defense barrister in London. In her interview, she discussed how the program afforded her opportunities she wouldn’t have found anywhere else. 

"I was able to go to the Old Bailey and actually sit with council and take notes for the trial. that was beyond anything i could have imagined coming into this program. On top of that we’ve worked with various cases in the court of European Court of Human Rights and the court of appeals at the Royal Courts of Justice. I would have never had these opportunities in America.”

The internship, according to Jeannette, had a huge effect on her career goals for the future. "I did this internship to see if Law School was something in my future,” she said. “I’m going to go back to the states and pursue law school.”

Ryan, a communications major at Penn State University, had a similarly valuable experience interning at the communications agency Aqueduct. “I’m a totally new person in that I know how to act in the workplace, I know how to meet new people with different languages, I know how to really integrate myself into a new culture.” 

As a part of his placement, he learned new software on how to create websites, and how to broaden the company’s scope of ideas. 

Prior to taking part in the program, Ryan had never been outside the United States, nor had he ever been in a professional environment before. “I was very nervous about interviewing.” However, he says “the process was easy… the staff were helpful." He finished the program having learned how to manage his time and to be confident in his work.