Report

As I work towards completing my masters in international business, I have had ample opportunities to speak with executives from some of the nation's top companies. When I am asked by recruiters what plans I have for my future career, they often do not know how to respond immediately to my answer. I am not interested in gaining a high paying position in corporate business, as is the goal of many of my fellow students. My intent in obtaining a business degree is to learn the financial and management skills necessary for a career in international nonprofit management. This is currently not a very popular career path for business students and this makes recruitment efforts, school-based experience, and especially internship opportunities hard to come by, even in one of the top business schools.

When I learned of the World Citizenship Program, I knew there could not be a program better tailored to allow me the experience I dearly need to start my career. The opportunity to work with international nonprofit organizations outside of the U.S. are few, and because of this, internships with these organizations are in high demand. This internship fits perfectly into my career plans as I would like to go into is using funds from first world countries to effectively complete projects in developing nations. I have international experience under my belt, but I now need to gain experience working and living in a less developed country. The opportunity to work with one of these organizations while living in the field would put me leaps and bounds ahead in my path towards becoming an effective leader in an international nonprofit enterprise.

I graduated with honors in 1999 with a sociology degree which allowed me learn about the social and cultural systems and problems found in the world. My course work included societal economics, social research, and Latin American culture courses as well as classes in Spanish and Dutch. I also studied abroad in the Netherlands during my time as an undergraduate. The months I spent immersed in a completely different culture taught me more about the differences in societies than any course could have. Along with seeing the diversity of different ways of living, I believe being abroad taught me the strength of character necessary to excel in environments outside of the comfort zone of our home culture. I found this more as I traveled to places such as Budapest and the Czech Republic where it became apparent that being in unfamiliar and uncertain situations is not for everyone. I am receptive to change and find immersion in new cultural situations both challenging and exciting. For these reasons, I believe I would adapt well to working in and with people of a developing society while interning with the WCP.

The people skills I have obtained while interacting with those of different cultures abroad and while working and volunteering at home should help me to communicate and work well with fellow employees and program participants. I have spent time volunteering for Catholic Charities in Gainesville where I interviewed assistance recipients one-on-one and therefore had extensive interaction with disadvantaged people of varied backgrounds. It is a special and delicate situation where one person finds themself asking another for any type of charitable assistance. This interaction requires a humbleness and sensitivity on the part of both the giver and the taker to overcome the awkwardness and hesitancy of both individuals. By stumbling my way through these encounters, I have learned the need to see situations as the other sees them and put respect above all else. Being able to communicate with people in this manner should improve both the effectiveness of my work as an intern and the quality of my experience as well.

Aside from providing valuable experience, this internship would also give me the opportunity to tie my master's project in with real work experience. For this I have planned on doing an in-depth business analysis for a nonprofit organization so that my efforts might reach farther than a professor's desk. The opportunity to do this for someone I could also work with would bring increased learning experience to me as well as benefit the organization by providing useful work to them. By participating in the World Citizenship Program, I hope to gain experience and knowledge that will not only benefit myself, but will prove to be a valuable asset to the future organizations with which I will work.

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