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Ben Kvisler, London Internship—Advertising & Marketing Track

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Big Ben During the London MarathonInterned in Advertising and Sales at Educate Direct, Spring 2014

Internship: I worked at Educate Direct (https://www.educate-direct.com/), a small advertising sales firm that helps universities and commercial organizations source talent. I was assigned a variety of work to support the sales team. The majority of the work involved making creative content for email campaigns and adverts. I also generated some email campaigns and made occasional sales calls. The biggest project I took part in was to design a microsite for a client, University of Derby. I designed the basic page layouts and made the creative content to go behind it.

I Learned: I used Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to make and edit creative work. The latter two programs I got to learn about while on the job. I could have learned how to use these programs in a classroom, but learning how to use them and creating real work for clients was a lot more meaningful.

For the study abroad experience in general, I learned that taking advantage of everyday and weekend is very important. While 4 months may seem like a good amount of time, it’s not all that long. So taking advantage of the free time you have is pretty important. I used the time to travel and learn more about my hobbies. Coming into my senior year, I’ll make sure that I spend it wisely and do the things that I’ve always wanted to do instead of having lazy weekends and evenings.

What Surprised Me: I was surprised by how close every other European country is to London. Many of the big cities are a 1-2.5 hour flight away. And if I booked early enough prices were quite affordable. This allowed me to travel to many countries while not grossly going over budget.

Hardest Part: The hardest part of the experience was trying to do everything in such a short amount of time. I really wanted to travel a lot and go to lots of the iconic London and European sites. It’s absolutely doable, but you have to plan early and get your friends on board if you’d like them to go. Make sure that your on top of your homework too, that always makes it easier.

Best Part: The best part was getting to travel to different European countries and getting an authentic take on the US perspective of foreign culture and food. This was my first time aboard, so everything was pretty new. As for London, the best part was being immersed in a city that always has something interesting to do. Most every day and night there’s some kind of event or new place to go.

My Tips:

  • Use the London buses! They’re a great way to get around the city while getting to see all the major landmarks.
  • Take advantage of all the free things to do, like the museums and events.
  • Plan travel early. The earlier you can plan, the cheaper travel and lodging will be. RyanAir and EasyJet are good inexpensive flight operators.
  • Get a Waitrose card and Sainsbury card. They give you discounts at these grocery stores.
  • Get Giffgaff for a SIM card. It worked great for me in London and other countries, and it was cheap.

Elevator Fund Internship – First Week – Michelle Kwon

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On Thursday June 26th, I arrived to Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport with a warm welcome (both literally and figuratively). As we were descending to our destination, we were blessed with the view of Tel-Aviv’s infamous beachfront view, which was indeed breathtaking. The juxtaposition of the dry barren tones of the desert and the deep aqua-marine blue of the ocean reminded me of an oasis, and I couldn’t wait to step my foot into it. The flood of excitement of seeing the city from an aerial view suddenly changed into anxiety as I landed and entered the airport. Although I did a fair amount of research before entering the country, I was nervous of the cultural and language barrier that existed. After successfully passing through customs, I realized that I shouldn’t have been so concerned about these barriers because even though I am an outlier in this country, people still treated me as if I were just like everyone else.

Once we arrived at the hostel, we checked in and got settled in. Soon after, we were informed that it was a holiday special to Tel-Aviv called “White Night” where everyone in the city comes out in the evening to celebrate in Tel-Aviv’s famous street, Rothschild Boulevard. The person who checked us in at the hostel said it was such a coincidence that we arrived on that specific day. After changing into something more adequate for the hot climate, we left the hostel for the main street. The entire street was closed and people were walking on the road, talking amongst themselves and watching the various street artists and performers. I had heard that Tel-Aviv was famous for its nightlife but I was so surprised when I was experiencing the vibrant lights and the relaxed atmosphere in real life. My assumption was that only young people were going to bars and clubs, but what I saw was the whole community come out to just spend time with one another, which was so special and it made me realize what an intimate culture Israel was.

-Michelle Kwon

Self-Employed Women’s Association 2014 – First Week

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SEWA“No. Never. Absolutely Not.” are the words my mother stuttered from the phone when I first announced that I had been accepted to intern with the Self Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad, India. Somehow, only three short months later, I now sit under the blanket of humidity that coats the entire city of Ahmedabad, and I would venture to guess, the rest of the country. How long can I survive in this over 100o temperature?  How can I work in India for over a month despite having never left the United States for more than a week? Will I be able to assimilate into a workplace that does not always use English for communication?  Only time will tell. However, while the odds may seem to be rapidly rising up against me, I can certainly say I have found these questions to be exciting challenges, and I have found my first week in India to be incredible.

Upon arriving at the Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Ahmedabad on Saturday, the other interns, and I were all acquainted with the rooms, our campus, and one another. The institute is divided between five different buildings surrounded with well-manicured lawns, foliage, and the occasional dog, peacock, and even monkey. Located in the rural district, the campus is detached from the main part of the city. Despite the fact that classes did not begin until Monday, two days after we arrived, some students were already on campus. We found all of them to be very nice and welcoming, and they gave us advice about the city and the area. A few even brought us with them to a beautiful Hindu temple down the road. The campus quickly became our base and, even more importantly, a home-away-from-home.

These lazy first two days were quickly interrupted by the Monday we all started our internships. The four interns working with EDI remained on campus while the six of us working with SEWA left for their office in our first visit to the inner city. The bustling chaos of Indian traffic lived up to all the stories we had heard. Driving laws, lights, and lanes are merely suggestions, and horns are used by drivers simply to declare: “I am here.” Amazingly, the bustle of cars and bikes flow like water through the streets. Once we arrived at our destination, we learned that our first week would serve as an introduction to SEWA’s goals and purpose. The first facility we toured was the textile branch of SEWA. On the first two floors, women were trained to sew with machinery and put together various articles of clothing. Only SEWA’s most skilled worked on intricate hand stitching on the top floor. We then toured the Gintanjali and SEWA Manager Ni School. Gitanjali helps women learn to turn recycled papers into notebooks and other paper-based materials. SEWA Manager Ni School provides management and basic business training to literate, illiterate, and semi-literate women. Overall, meeting new and senior members of each branch of the organization allowed us to see the opportunities SEWA creates for women throughout Ahmedabad and India.

On Wednesday and Thursday Michael, my internship partner, and I finally learned about the group we would be working under directly: Rudi. Rudi provides agricultural assistance to villages to help promote village and farming sustainability for its members. We visited two separate processing plants and met some of the women we would be directly working under. It was quite comforting to find such kindness and hospitality behind the dust and sand of Gujarat’s more arid regions. Even more surprising was the fertility of this land. Not only could the land be farmed after the rejuvenation of the seasonal monsoons, but there were also vast amounts of valuable and profitable salt deposits. Rudi is concerned with all resources produced by the land as well as the farmers cultivating them all.  The drive to these destinations were two to three hours long but passed by quite quickly thanks primarily to our very entertaining boss, Dimpleben. Between comparisons of British and American culture to Dimpleben’s Hindi lessons, the fields of Gujarat quickly raced by our cars windowsills each day.

Now I wait to leave for a village in Surendranagar district where I will work for the next twelve days. There, I will analyze and write the business strategy for the Rudi’s Surendranagar branch and then create a new business plan for the next five years. Once completed, this analysis will be given to Rudi and SEWA for consideration. Meanwhile, the other SEWA interns will each work for their respective departments within the organization. With introductions of SEWA, the country, and the other interns complete, I look forward to the approaching rainy season and the next five weeks on my exciting adventure in India.

-Tim McCall