At the beginning of the semester I gave myself three learning objectives and created a plan that I would implement in order to meet these objectives. My first objective was to be able to apply business concepts and theories to real-world decision-making. My action plan included the use of different tasks and assignments to better and amplify my business concepts and keeping a journal, as I acquired new business concepts and theories, so that I can use them later on in my professional life. I think that being part of this virtual internship really exposed me to new ways to make important decisions regarding a real company, and it will serve for me as a learning and hands-on experience to be able to apply it to upcoming life events. I was able to acquire a plethora of marketing terminology and business terms by engaging with my supervisors and utilizing these terms frequently to refer to my tasks and assignments. My supervisors urged me to use the correct terminology when presenting my ideas and projects to them, and I realize that this allowed me to become familiar and comfortable with using business concepts in a real-world. After constantly utilizing these business concepts around my supervisors I can confidently say that I can use this terminology when needed in my professional and any real-world decision-making setting.
Objective 2
My second objective was to be able to give a full presentation or create a project fully in Spanish. My action plan included keeping a document with all the new Spanish words that I learned throughout my internship and then applying that vocabulary to my projects and presentation. Although, it was a bit difficult to get used to at first this experience was so great because I was able to engage in not only conversation but utilize professional terminology in Spanish as well. I truly believe that being able to receive feedback in Spanish helped me better my overall use of the language, and it also introduced me to a setting where my native language was used professionally. The experience of being able to express myself in both languages was so wonderful and being able to incorporate my first language in the business world is something that I have always looked forward to. Expressing my ideas and presenting them in Spanish was like a dream come true, and it is something
My second objective was to be able to give a full presentation or create a project fully in Spanish. My action plan included keeping a document with all the new Spanish words that I learned throughout my internship and then applying that vocabulary to my projects and presentation. Although, it was a bit difficult to get used to at first this experience was so great because I was able to engage in not only conversation but utilize professional terminology in Spanish as well. I truly believe that being able to receive feedback in Spanish helped me better my overall use of the language, and it also introduced me to a setting where my native language was used professionally. The experience of being able to express myself in both languages was so wonderful and being able to incorporate my first language in the business world is something that I have always looked forward to. Expressing my ideas and presenting them in Spanish was like a dream come true, and it is something
My third objective was to acquire more cultural knowledge about Spain and its traditions. It was so incredible to have been able to experience a whole country virtually. It was certainly a different experience, but I also feel like this was a great way to get a grasp about Spain and its people and traditions. The opportunity of being part of the weekly cultural debrief sessions was such a great experience, and I believe that this gave me a closer look about Spain and its culture by talking to Spaniards and asking them questions pertaining to their culture, custom and beliefs, Being able to listen to their cultural experiences an learning about their background opened my eyes to what culture in Spain is really like. I believe that working closely with Buddy Service, which is located in Spain permitted me to learn about its culture and customs through the people that interacted with virtually. I firmly believe that learning about different cultures is super important, and I am so grateful that I got to do this from the commodity of my home.
I think that we often times oversee that hardships that people with disabilities experience while traveling. Traveling is something that is already so stressful, and through this assignment I learned that people with disabilities don’t receive enough attention or help when traveling. I believe that this assignment is what truly made me fall in love with Buddy Service and what it stands for. I realize that writing reports doesn’t exactly have to do with digital marketing at all but at the same time this is the of the message that I was assigned to get across. After reading various articles about how inaccessible traveling is for disabled people, I decided to always try my best in all of my assignments to help make a difference. I became super passionate and involved in making infographics and creating the best social media posts in an effort to create awareness for disabled travelers. I think that this is an important topic that should be highlighted everywhere. I realized that I wanted more than getting an internship experience, I wanted to help Buddy Service promote their services, so that travelers with disabilities can receive the attention and care that they deserve. This experience made me realize that the goal behind Fabian’s vision was so beautiful, and I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to help make it a reality.
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Lizbeth Martinez, a senior International Business major participated in CISAbroad's virtual internship program in Barcelona in Fall 2020. Read more from Liz at https://lizinvirtualspain.wordpress.com/
Interested in pursuing a virtual international internship? This innovative program allows students to put accessibility and mobility concerns aside to develop meaningful professional connections with international companies, NGOs, health and education organizations, and so on. Although it’s not a substitute for a traditional on-site experience, these programs provide a project-based pathway for students to connect with international organizations. Learn more about options to internationalize your degree plan by adding a virtual international internship to your semester.
