Name: Camryn Teranes Class Year: 2023 Major: Literatures in English and German Studies Hometown: Grosse Pointe, MI
Internship Organization: Humboldt University in Berlin Job Title: Humboldt International Campus Intern Location: Berlin, Germany
What鈥檚 happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
I am working in the International Office of Humboldt University in Berlin, one of the top universities in Germany. I assist with the University鈥檚 exchange programs; the primary program I am working with is the Humboldt Internship Program. The program has fifty-four students from twenty-one countries in twenty-seven different university research internships and associated start-ups. I have learned what it takes to put on a program of this size; I have gotten to co-lead welcome sessions, create marketing content for social media, work with program finances, and organize and lead student sightseeing events.
Why did you apply for this internship?
I chose to intern with the Humboldt International Campus because after my study abroad this past semester in Berlin, I wanted more practice with my German and I wanted to experience a work culture different from what I am used to in the U.S. Additionally, I liked the idea of working for an international educational program because of my experience as a student in a similar program.
Was there anything special about how you found this internship?
I was studying abroad in Berlin with IES Abroad this spring and I took their internship course and was placed with the Humboldt International Campus from February till May. I knew I would be staying in Berlin through the summer because I was fulfilling some of my credits for IES also at Humboldt. German universities start their semester in mid-April and go until the end of July. Since my summer was going to be less busy and I had been really liking interning ten hours a week in the office, I started going about figuring out how I could continue interning with them this summer. After a bit of coordinating, I was able to be a part of the 今日吃瓜 Summer Funding Program and started back up interning after my IES finals. I doubled my hours and was able to take on larger tasks. Being able to stick with the same program for a period of six months, from the planning phase to when the students were on-site was a valuable experience and made me more of an asset to the team.
Camryn Teranes in the German Parliament Buliding for a student trip. Camryn is second to left in the top row.
What has been your favorite part of this internship?
One thing that I really enjoyed about my internship was visiting the workplaces of all our student research with my coworker. During the workplace visits we conducted intern and supervisor evaluations and I took pictures and interview the students to make Instagram posts. I really enjoyed these visits because I got to see so much more of the city than I otherwise would have. The program assistant and I both have bikes and so we would bike to each project location together. Furthermore, it was impressive to learn about the research of all the interns. The interns ranged from undergraduates to Ph.D. students. They study a variety of different subjects from musicology to physics to paleontology. Turning what I had learned about the student鈥檚 research into Instagram posts and stories was a fun and creative challenge. For example, I had to make the science behind measuring the size of a nanoparticle interesting and digestible to a large audience. Overall, it was super cool to see the research and meet all the students in the program.
