Traveling alone can be daunting; seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and being put outside of your comfort zone are concepts many of us go through when going to a new place. I would be lying if I didn't say that these feelings are exponentially increased when not only traveling but even more so working there. Don't let this deceive you though; all the high emotions you get from experiencing new things also get increased. Picking up on local lingo, learning customs you couldn't have picked up by being there a few weeks, getting to create your own local space within the city that nobody in your cohort of interns knows of, and sharing it for the first time with all your new friends. These experiences are something you only get the opportunity to feel when interning abroad. As someone who came into this alone, not knowing anyone from the UO intern pool, let alone the bigger intern cohort of 52+ students. I can promise you that those feelings of stress, anxiety, fear, and overall curiosity fuel friendships that you would never see possible. Out of my cohort and all the events we had, I can only count one instance of someone being alone during our events, and that was by choice. If your fear of interning is culture shock, the lack of knowing people, or the experience of working somewhere else. I can promise that your support system is wide and vast, and not only will you push through any issues within the program, such as endless work or maybe a lack of work, but you'll come out far more prepared for after college with better interpersonal skills, confidence, and the personal growth to know when to adapt. As an LGBTQ and ethnic minority coming into a country where no one person looked like me. I could count on zero hands how many times I saw or met someone who came from a Mexican heritage (yes, zero!), yet I can say that this experience made me feel at home and happy by the end of the program. Singapore, serving as the main economic hub for Southeast Asia, and its mood of racial harmony will make any traveling duck glad they chose this program.
Jesus Valenzuela, Diverse Ducks Ambassador
GlobalWorks Internship in Singapore
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