{"id":2958,"date":"2015-02-24T11:32:51","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T16:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/questromworld.bu.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=2958"},"modified":"2022-10-11T20:07:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T20:07:40","slug":"jessica-wong-sydney-internship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/questromworld.bu.edu\/studyabroad\/2015\/02\/24\/jessica-wong-sydney-internship\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Wong, Sydney Internship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jessica<\/a>Interned in Merchandise Planning at the Iconic, an online fashion startup, Fall 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Internship:\u00a0<\/strong>I spent my seven weeks interning in the merchandise planning department at The Iconic, an online fashion startup founded by an SMG alum.\u00a0 My tasks ranged from forecasting and budgeting different products based on past sales and creating spreadsheets on Excel to track competitor prices and match our prices to theirs.\u00a0 I spent one week in the finance department dealing with invoices and another in the marketing department sitting in on meetings.\u00a0 One day we took a field trip to the company\u2019s warehouse to see the operations side of things and helped pack and ship out orders.\u00a0 This internship definitely helped me prepare for future courses and especially will prepare me for Core next year.<\/p>\n

I Learned:\u00a0<\/strong>I learned that while the world does not revolve around the U.S., American policy decisions have such large repercussions\u00a0that Australian media covers\u00a0U.S. issues.<\/p>\n

I also learned that there is life beyond digital media\u00a0by seeing that Australians\u00a0do not rely on WiFi and the internet as much.\u00a0 I got used to not checking Facebook and Twitter as frequently and even opted, after returning to America, to delete\u00a0my Twitter account and rarely go on social media anymore.<\/p>\n

What Surprised Me:\u00a0<\/strong>What surprised me was how in tune Australians are to\u00a0U.S. affairs, even more so than I was.\u00a0 It made me feel really self-centered as a U.S. citizen, and often I ended up not telling people I was American upon meeting them although they say they could tell with my accent!<\/p>\n

Hardest Part:\u00a0<\/strong>I had a difficult\u00a0roommate experience, and it escalated to the point where I had to move out.\u00a0 There were times when I felt the program was very cliquey and times when I couldn\u2019t connect with people in the program like I could with my friends back at home. \u00a0I learned, however, to accept that the other people on my program were probably going through the same thing and admitted that it took more than four months for me to be open with my best friends at home. \u00a0 What I learned from this is that if you\u2019re feeling alone, it\u2019s alright. It’s a common feeling when you\u2019re thousands of miles and numerous time zones away from your friends and family.<\/p>\n

Best Part:<\/strong> The best part was the freedom to travel wherever I wanted.\u00a0 I would take weekend trips all around Aussie because our class and work schedule allowed it.\u00a0 To say that I went skydiving, bungee jumping, white water rafting in New Zealand, fed kangaroos, cuddled a koala, saw a wild platypus, scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef, visited the Olympic Stadiums in both Sydney and Melbourne, went zip-lining in the Daintree Rainforest and climbed Mt. Wellington in Tasmania is probably the best part of my experience.\u00a0 Being in Australia made me feel alive.<\/p>\n

My Tips:<\/strong> Save money because Sydney is expensive, and you\u2019re going to end up broke.\u00a0 Be your best self and be social within the first few days no matter how jet-lagged you feel.\u00a0 Try to get acclimated and talk to the locals at your internship or when you go out!\u00a0 You\u2019re going to be spending all your classes with people in the program, so the only time you\u2019ll meet locals is when you\u2019re out or working in the Aussie workforce!<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Hide and Gelato Messina in Surry Hills have the best food.\u00a0 There aren\u2019t any bagels in Aussie, and Brooklyn Hide is the best substitute for a New York bagel.\u00a0 Paddy\u2019s Market is open Wednesday-Sunday, and it\u2019s basically a flea market and produce market.\u00a0 Get all your produce there to save money. Your Opal Card (like a Charlie Card) will tap out after spending 15 bucks on weekdays, but\u00a0on Sundays it\u2019s 2.50. Consequently, you should go to all the beaches and far away places\u00a0on Sundays to save money.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a link to my blog that I wrote chronicling my time abroad.\u00a0 It goes more in depth about everything I mentioned: www.jesswong94.wordpress.com<\/p>\n\n\t\t