The EdUSA Internship is a customizable experience (though students typically travel for three weeks) and there is no program fee associated with the opportunity. Students source their own accommodation with advisement from EducationUSA. Students purchase their own airfare and are responsible for ancillary costs like transportation and sight-seeing. The students are enrolled in a 3-6 credit Latin American Studies internship course.
Dr. Consuelo Stebbins from Latin American Studies has developed excellent partnerships with EdUSA sites in many cities within South America. UCF has the strongest partnership with Bogota, Colombia; Cusco, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Brasilia, Brazil; and Sao Paolo, Brazil. Some of the other internship locations include Guadalajara, Mexico; Merida, Mexico; Barranquilla, Colombia; Trujillo, Peru; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Fortalez, Brazil; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and St. Kitts and Nevis, Caribbean. Here are some accounts of recent internship experiences our students have completed.
Lynda Hodos – Santiago, Chile
Lynda Hoyos, a LAS intern, worked with Chilean scholars who are headed to the U.S. to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees at universities. Hoyos says about her experiences, “My internship abroad to Chile with EducationUSA has enhanced my educational experience and has given me insight on potential future endeavors. I was fortunate to work with an amazing director, Brenda Paz Soldan and her staff in Santiago, Chile. The internship at EducationUSA taught me the value of building relationships, and how those relationships can build bridges that lead to new opportunities.”
When Lynda arrived at her internship site in Santiago, she was assigned the job of reviewing the writing assignments for the students in the Undergraduate College club. Her supervisor suggested she set up conversation classes with these students, as speaking tends to be another weak area for them. Lynda reviewed the writing assignments for fifteen students. Not only did she set up conversation classes, she took it to another level, making them as similar to the speaking section of the TOEFL. She timed the students, gave them strategies and provided feedback for improvement. Lynda also created a presentation for students with recommendations on how to prepare an outline for the essay.
She spoke in sessions with our students about writing application essays and life on a U.S. college campus. She also participated in a fair organized by a local university here to talk about EdUSA.
Nikki, Danny and Ann – Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasilia, Brazil
Nikki, Danny and Ann had the experience of a lifetime during their summer internship in Brasilia. The timing of their internship allowed for them to participate with an annual student leadership summit facilitated at the EdUSA center, so they worked with groups of students, helping them to improve their English language abilities through experiential activities. Students had a bake-off learning to make American cookies and pancakes, all in English, of course. The Brazilian students also teamed up to compete in a video contest, planning, directing and filming a music video to their favorite American pop songs. All these creative and engaging activities were facilitated by our UCF interns!
Our students spent the Fourth of July holiday in Brasilia, which was an ideal time for them to share what the holiday means and how we celebrate it stateside. They also enjoyed an Independence Day party at the U.S. Embassy! Not bad for a few juniors.
Nikki, Danny and Ann saw their teaching and language skills come to life and truly made a difference in the level of preparation for the EdUSA students at Casa Thomas Jefferson.
To start your internship journey abroad, visit https://las.cah.ucf.edu/study-abroad/.