Interns abroad get best of both worlds

As we settle into the spring semester, the most obvious difference upon our return to campus is the absence of so many of our classmates, lured away by the excitement of the enticing study abroad opportunity. Those of us remaining on campus are left staring at the cartoon, poof-like Facebook updates proclaiming our peers’ departures to London, Sydney or Madrid. We’re happy for them, if not slightly envious of all the unforgettable life experiences they’re surely about to have that we somehow can’t get in Los Angeles.

 

Studying abroad has long been held up as a crucial, once-in-a-lifetime experience, one of those make-the-most-of-your-time-here -at-college things.

Except you’re not here. The inescapable flipside of studying abroad is that while you’re choosing from the limited selection of classes you can take in Barcelona, you’re skipping one of your precious semesters at USC. Everyone knows the value and the novelty of travel, but consider what you’re missing — athletic events, fraternity formals, the chance to take the classes you really want, and Coachella.

On top of subtracting four months from your time on campus, it’s nearly impossible to take your traditional course load at a foreign university because aside from almost all courses appearing as only credit/no credit, you can’t take any general education, writing or diversity requirements. This means aspiring dual-degree students might have to make the choice between travel and their second major or minor, and even students with moderate course loads could find it difficult to graduate on time. But we still want to travel because we like adventure, accents and new food, because we want to say we did it and because we’re young.

To that end, I’d like to shed light on an oft-overlooked and infinitely more manageable alternative to studying abroad: interning abroad in the summer.

Entering college, I always assumed I’d study abroad. Eventually, however, I remembered I was going for three degrees in four years.

I also wanted to spend spring semester of junior year, the unofficial yet no less traditional “study abroad semester,” doing directed research. New Zealand wasn’t in the cards, and it’s not for a lot of people. Then I learned about the intern programs.

Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, Marshall School of Business and a host of other schools offer summer internship programs abroad; you apply to your choice of location and, once accepted, work with the faculty to land an internship that suits you. And aside from simply being more productive, interning abroad means you’ll spend a summer working in the field of something you love rather than a spring sitting through lectures.

There is no downside. You have your time abroad — often alongside your friends. It also looks better on your résumé and you gain practical work experience.

Meanwhile, you don’t fall behind academically, you don’t miss any time at USC and when a potential employer calls the number you gave as a reference, they’ll reach someone with a very impressive accent. There are even scholarships available to help offset the cost, which, over the course of two months instead of four, almost certainly cost less than studying abroad would cost in the first place.

Many of you will spend the summer interning anyway. Why not do it in Dublin?

 

Kastalia Medrano is a junior majoring in print and digital journalism.