When I was completing my undergraduate degree at SUNY Oswego, I was selected to intern with the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This experience led me to join the Peace Corps, where I served as an English Education volunteer in Georgia, and then to becoming a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) in Malaysia. All these experiences, along with studying abroad in Australia, allowed me to both learn about and further appreciate different cultures around the world. This also made me realize how much I enjoy working on exchange programs.
Currently, I am working towards obtaining a Master of International Affairs degree at UAlbany’s Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. Part of the program requires an internship and through a professional meeting opportunity on the UAlbany campus I was connected with the International Center of Capital Region (ICCR). This connection eventually led to an internship. Peace Corps and Fulbright helped me gain new skills working in a cross-cultural environment that I was glad to be able to use while interning at ICCR. During my time as an intern, I wrote proposals, set up meetings with local organizations, and helped coordinate logistics for visiting professionals through the Open World and IVLP programs. Through this experience I not only gained a new perspective on professional exchange programs operating in the United States, but it also showed me just how truly important cultural and educational exchange programs are both in the US and around the world.