Communication students from the University of Missouri (United States), Abigail Blasingame, Isabella Janney and Corinne Baum, through an agreement with FUNIBER, carried out internships at the Foundation’s headquarters in Barcelona from January to April. We have interviewed them to learn about their experience.
How do you value this experience of extracurricular internships in Spain?
Isabella Janney- Working at FUNIBER this semester has been a really enriching experience that I’m grateful to have taken so much away from! Michelle and Ruth were kind and encouraging supervisors, helping us learn about the work FUNIBER does and how to best promote it. I will miss working here and being able to truly immerse myself in life in Spain – personally and professionally.
Abby Blasingame-Getting to live and work in Spain has been a great experience that has helped me grow both professionally and personally. Working in an office environment in another country is helpful because it allows you to see different cultures and communicate across cultural differences. The experience at FUNIBER as an academic institution is also impressive, and I hope it will help my career moving forward.
Corinne Baum-I’ve really enjoyed my time at FUNIBER this semester. It was a great opportunity to improve my Spanish while gaining real life experience for my future career. Ruth and Michelle were so patient and helpful through the whole semester, and it felt like they truly cared about us and what we wanted to do during our internship. We were encouraged to provide feedback and come up with our own ideas, which is invaluable for students.
What has this experience given you on a personal, academic and professional level?
Isabella Janney- It’s been encouraging to see the difference from when I first arrived here in January to now and how my level of Spanish has improved. Being able to communicate and write in Spanish at the level I can now will continue to help me both academically and professionally, and I know I am confident in my ability to communicate in a workplace environment in another language. Also being able to learn about the differences in communication here in Spain versus the United States has been really interesting and opened my eyes to the differences in culture and communication that exist everywhere in the world.
Abby Blasingame-The biggest thing that this experience has helped me with is improving my level of Spanish overall. Before I came to Barcelona, I was not at all confident in my speaking abilities and was afraid to speak to others in Spanish. However, this experience has allowed me to constantly challenge myself and improve. I know this skill will help me both personally and professionally. Even though I am not pursuing a degree or minor in Spanish, this experience has helped me academically by giving me a more global perspective and broader skill set.
Corinne Baum-This experience has made me become comfortable with being uncomfortable. There were times when I was embarrassed because I was speaking incorrectly, but Michelle and Ruth were very patient and helped me when I was wrong. I also had to learn editing software in a second language, which was certainly challenging and took me a few weeks to figure out. I feel like this program helped me become a more confident person with a more open and international mindset.