Spotlight Detail

Congratulations to Sarah Rodriguez, for receiving a Film and Media Studies Summer Internship Award, with generous support from Sky Vision Insurance

FMS Summer Internship Awardee

Sarah had this to say about her internship: “This summer I interned abroad at an NGO, Hong Kong-America Center, in Hong Kong as a recipient of the 2019 Cultural Vistas Fellowship. At this internship placement, I worked within the realms of digital communications, social media, and public relations as my work was tailored to primarily focus on revamping and redesigning the Center’s website and social media platforms. By curating sets of images to generate and document the Center’s programs/events through photography and videography, this work offered me the opportunity to actively engage with and learn more about the best ways to utilize multimedia platforms to showcase information in visually capturing, innovative ways that create and maintain ongoing relationships with local and transnational communities.

My favorite part about this summer internship is being in Hong Kong because I am able to learn in and out of the office. Being in Hong Kong has been an absolute dream- ranging from its delicious cuisines, hybrid of cultural influences, jaw-dropping skyline(s), and its strong entrepreneurial spirit! Hong Kong has offered me a greater holistic understanding of the world as a global citizen, especially in this particular historical period of time where I have witnessed hundreds of thousands of the people of Hong Kong unite as a collective in the many ongoing peaceful, multivariable, and diverse protests. The city becomes a space that allows me to learn more about international politics and the media strategies utilized to gain international exposure, while also admiring the city’s resiliency, tenacity, and solidarity.

Although I think interning abroad is a great way to internationalize one’s own resume, academics, and network- I would encourage everyone to part-take in internships anywhere during their undergraduate studies. Internships are great opportunities to actively analyze and synthesize “in-class theories” for “real world” applicability. In my past experiences, internships have helped me diversify and strengthen my own skills set as I work in different business infrastructures and encounter different types of challenges. Internships have also helped reorient and/or reaffirm my ambitions, while offering me a sense of direction in my career. Furthermore, internships are great opportunities to begin forming and maintaining professional relationships as you get to work with and learn from new people, but also have the expertise around you from faculty and potential mentors in the workspace. Overall, I would encourage all to pursue internships and remain open-minded in order to have fruitful experiences. Even if you do not think you qualify for an internship position, but you really want it- purse it because as cliche as it sounds- you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.