Upon completing my internship this summer, the number one feeling I have is a sense of pride. When COVID-19 hit I was unsure how my New York City based internship would play out and was very sceptical that any online model would compare to walking down to the UN every day. That being said, I can only say that I have been surprised by the sense of accomplishment I feel in completing this internship and the change I believe I helped drive.
Being a Joint Honours student in African Studies and International Development Studies, I am passionate about the way we engage students in development. I have been fortunate enough to do Model United Nations, a mock UN debate format, since I was 13. If not for that, I am not sure my passion and spark in development would ever have been lit as bright. That is a large part of my motive behind this internship. Having worked for the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in the past in a volunteer capacity, I know the incredible ways they reach students in the most remote corners of the world and give them the opportunity to be inspired by development issues around the globe.
As an intern, my primary responsibilities were to work with Bill Yotive, one of the founders of Model UN as a whole and continue to develop curriculum and documents to be shared when teaching students about this forum. Bill and I have worked together in the past and he is one of the most supportive and passionate mentors I have ever worked with. When starting the internship, we looked at the variety of flaws in the way WFUNA internally manages their documents and organization structures. We built a list of all the templates, handbooks and guides that were needed and decided upon the format they needed to be solidified under. Some of this was as simple as editing the font across the guides and some of the changes required vast research from UN Databases and external sources.
I believe that in addition to the above, an online workspace taught me a great deal about adaptation to the workplace and the ability to be flexible. On top of the above duties, there were a variety of times where additional help was needed on the communications and strategy side. While I did not have a lot of experience in those areas, guidance from others around me helped me to feel as though my input, as a youth advocate and intern, was valuable. I learned about social media strategy, communication through UN channels and the relevance that my interdisciplinary degree has in the real world.
Building on this experience, I have decided that I am mostly on the correct career path. Working to improve youth involvement at the highest levels within the UN would most certainly be a long-term goal for me. In the short term however, I think I have seen the value in optimization and creating efficient structures that allow for higher quality work. All that to say, the idea of consulting in the NGO field is not something that had occurred to me but is now an avenue I would like to explore. I think I have a good ability to walk into new environments and envision what needs to happen to make those more efficient. Working with WFUNA showed me how these large organizations that before seemed untouchable and perfect in many ways, do have flaws. In being able to notice those and having a younger, unique perspective, I think this could be a good option for me. While I am not sure what that looks like as a graduating student this year, it has opened my eyes to the many different options and opportunities I have ahead.
While I am not receiving a Â鶹AV credit for this internship, I am sure in classes and my thesis on educational development in Africa, I will be drawing on these experiences and my firsthand knowledge. The internship program at Â鶹AV and funds I received made this possible and created an opportunity for me to have a productive workspace where I was able to excel at this internship in many ways. I would like to thank Ms. Heather Sokoloff and Mr. Lev Bukhman for their generous support of the Lev Bukhman Internship Award in Arts. I am very grateful for the opportunity and excited to continue building on this experience.
