Hometown
Holly, MI

Major and class standing
Spanish & Linguistics,Senior

Social media Handles
@payton.miller11 on Instagram

Where you interned at (employer name, city, state)
Both. People & Comms, Barcelona, Spain

What was your internship title and role/responsibilities?
I was a translation intern, so I translated documents between English and Spanish (mostly from Spanish to English). These documents included presentations about sustainability, diversity training, event communications, and social media posts. I got to work with a wide range of topics and different speech registers, which I found to be really fun because I got to experience a lot of different aspects of communication.

How did you obtain your internship? What resources did you utilize to secure your internship?
I used a company called Connect123. Connect123 takes your resume, and after a brief interview with them, they find internships that match your requirements and interests. Once I did that, I got an email a few weeks later describing the company and I got to set up an interview. Then I started working for both companies.

What did your daily routine include?
Normally I would wake up early in the morning so that I could respond to emails and get my daily/weekly tasks. I would wake up early because Spain is 6 hours ahead of Michigan. I wanted to make sure that I had time to ask questions while they were still in the office and that I could get a response back. After attending classes and hanging out with friends, I would come home to do work and school work.

Your favorite experience from the internship (2-3 sentences)
My favorite experience was definitely getting to translate and subtitle a video that was going to be shared with corporate employees at PepsiCo. Not only did I get to learn how to subtitle videos, it is crazy to think that my work is going to be seen by employees around the world that help create products that I see all the time.

What was your least favorite part of the internship?
My least favorite part was definitely the difference in time zones. There were times that I needed to translate lengthy documents that had a deadline of the next morning, which meant that I had a long night ahead of me with both work and school tasks. Sometimes it was hard to balance the two, especially when it came time to study for and take exams.

What skills did you learn and/or build upon during your internship?
I learned a lot about translation. I learned how to not only translate for meaning, but also translate for tone and style of the original work. I also learned a lot about how Spanish is used casually, which is something that I find lacking in my university courses. Lastly, I learned how to establish boundaries with people without seeming rude or overly polite. This meant being able to tell people no when I did not have the time so that I did not overwork myself, while also maintaining a friendly relationship with employees.

What did you learn about the industry or your career path as a result of the internship? What are your future plans?
I learned that it takes a lot more than just one person to complete a task. Often, there are people working that come from very different fields of expertise and backgrounds, so there is definitely room for everyone. I thought about going into translation work before, and now I know that it is definitely an option for me. I should consider working for a company similar to the one I interned for.

What advice do you have for other students seeking out internship opportunities?
Definitely don’t be afraid to ask questions! Using Connect12 made it super easy to find an internship abroad, it took away the stress of me finding one that fit my requirements and interests. Also, you will learn a lot about yourself if you have to balance a professional work life and school while still talking time for yourself.