I started my internship with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Toulouse knowing a few things about the upcoming experience. I knew that returning to Toulouse after studying abroad there in my senior year was going to be a great way to improve my French. Additionally, I was sure that my intercultural understanding skills would be significantly heightened. My time at CIEE Toulouse as an alumni college student intern proved to be so much more.
CIEE's summer features over a hundred high school students who come in to either pursue the Aerospace Engineering program, or the Language and Culture program. I enjoyed the range of responsibilities I was assigned. From the first day of meeting and picking up students from the airport to the later weeks of connecting with them, there was never a dull momemt. I helped the students settle into their residential spaces, assisted with their orientation and documented their summer in Toulouse through photography. My mornings were usually spent in the office, meeting with my supervisor to discuss the schedule for the day, working on the weekly newsletters, and keeping the social media pages up to date. My afternoons were spent outside, visiting Toulouse with the students. The excursions included multiple museums visits, pastry making workshops, kayaking on the Garonne river, and many more cultural activities. During my internship, I found that ensuring a safe and comfortable environment for the students was one that came easily to me, due to my experience as a Community Assistant while at St. Lawrence University.
My internship was a beautiful balance of professional growth, increase in skills (including media skills, communication skills, presentation skills, intercultural literacy) and overall improvement in cultural knowledge, and language skills. I found my time in Toulouse as an alum college intern to have been a truly impactful one.
I am very grateful to have been offered the opportunity to spend my summer in Toulouse, France with CIEE after my graduation. It was a wonderful exposure into the professional world and I feel very much equipped as I delve into the next stage of my career.