Student Testimonials: Reflections on an international internship

Name: Kelsey Lantz, '09
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Broomfield, CO
Position Title: Team Leader/Attitudes in leadership and Service
Name of Company or Organization: Casa Bernabe, Guatemala

 

 

In two to three sentences, please describe what your internship entailed.

My sophomore/junior year I spent planning a team service trip to Guatemala for interim of 2008. This trip became a wonderful opportunity for 20 students to serve others while being immersed into a new culture. We spent the month at an orphanage called Casa Bernabe where we worked in the different houses there, helped with medical work, construction, dance workshops, and helped in the school.

Which country(ies) did your work take you to?

Guatemala

How did you find your internship?

I did an internship my sophomore year over interim at Casa Bernabe and also spent that next summer there and felt that I should share the experience with a team of students the following year.

Why did you choose to intern abroad instead of domestically?

I have always had a passion for international travel as well as orphan/adoption work. There are so many things to learn traveling domestically, however when you travel internationally you are pushed out of your comfort zone, see things from a very new perspective and begin to build a better global community by bridging gaps and building relationships.

Which parts of your St. Olaf education best prepared you to work and live internationally?

I never would have been able to handle planning for and taking a team of 20 people for a whole month had it not been for advice from the CEL, support from deans, time management skills learned at St. Olaf or the general encouragement to go abroad while studying at St. Olaf.

What is the most difficult or challenging aspect about interning internationally?

In Guatemala you are set in a very different culture and the biggest challenge our team faced was finding the balance and learning how to show that we were not there to enforce our ideas on them but to assist them in what they want to be assisted in and in the way they wanted it done. This is hard coming from the United States where we think that our way is the best way, but we learned a lot. The biggest challenge for me was trying to help and lead 20 students, many who had never been out of the country before, adapt to the circumstances and keep everyone's experience a positive one.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working internationally?

I have been to Guatemala 6 times, Panama 2 and Samoa once and I can honestly say the thing I have valued the most are the relationships. Guatemala is what I now consider home, it is where the people I consider family live and I have fallen in love with the culture. These experiences will always be a part of me and I am thankful St. Olaf offered these opportunities.

What does being a “global citizen” mean to you?

Over the past few years I have really learned that it is about building relationships across nations. It is amazing to be able to say that you have friends in so many different countries. Having been to Guatemala so many times and lived in their culture for a period of time I have been able to come back and share about these rich experiences and encourage others to travel as well. It gives you a chance to bring awareness of what is going on in a country and get others involved.

What advice would you offer other students interested in interning internationally?

Be open-minded. Your experience will most likely be out of your comfort zone and against what you may have grown up thinking, being taught and believing. If you do not go open minded you will not enjoy your time there and you will not learn anything new, which to me defeats the purpose of traveling abroad. Be open-minded and it will be easier to deal with the discomfort and new situations. You will come away with a new outlook on so many different aspects of life.

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