Hometown: Rochester, MI

Major: Spanish-Senior

Instagram: sarahbara01

Internship Company: Amartya Buenos Aires, Argentina

What was your internship title and role/responsibilities?

In my internship, I was an Environment and Sustainability Intern. I helped a non-profit organization complete funding requests in order to finance projects regarding environmental conservation and sustainability.

How did you obtain your internship? What resources did you utilize to secure your internship?

I found this internship by first contacting my academic advisor. She linked me to another MSU advisor that meets with you to understand what your ideal internship looks like and what you would hope to gain from it. From there, she contacted Connect-123, a placement company that ended up finding me this internship placement.

What did your daily routine include?

My daily routine was working individually on forms from donors, and sometimes translating them into English depending on the foundation.

Your favorite experience from the internship (2-3 sentences)

My favorite part of the internship was being able to practice my Spanish in every interaction with the company. I loved learning about sustainability and conservation. I am a major supporter of learning about cleaner and renewable sources of energy and how to better protect our earth.

What was your least favorite part of the internship?

My least favorite part of this opportunity was that it was only available virtually. I would have loved to have done this in person and explore parts of Buenos, Aires.

What skills did you learn and/or build upon during your internship?

I learned how to collaborate and communicate well with a new group of people in another language. It is always difficult for me to communicate in my second language, so having this as the sole form of communication was good because it forced me to speak the language.

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 this is a growing industry. More people are becoming concerned for the environment’s health and wanting to find ways to better protect it. I plan to become an English teacher in Spain, and after this internship, I plan to integrate conservation into my lesson plans and classroom.

What advice do you have for other students seeking out internship opportunities?

My advice for future students considering doing an internship is to be willing to take chances and try something new. I didn’t know a lot about this opportunity or company when I started, but I’m very happy I took this chance and worked for this company.