Italy: Torino
Three students from CSU Chico completed Communications Internships in the Torino Fall 2007 program. Rachael Melin, Rheba Lundy and Alexandra Ford helped local Italian students learn English by giving presentations and holding conversation practice with them. The local students loved seeing their photos from California and enjoyed learning about American Thanksgiving traditions. Following is an excerpt from Rachael Melin’s journal entries about her internship experience:
“I really enjoy getting to hear their perspective and point of view on how we American students come off to them, or how they think things are in America. It once again brings my attention to the beauty of how diverse our world is and how fascinated I am with other cultures. I love hearing or witnessing the slight differences in the things we do that one would never really pay attention to unless they were here. Studying abroad involves so much and honestly is just one of life’s greatest lessons. I have really benefited from this experience and have learned so much. I look forward to next semester, which will only continue to help me improve my language skills as well as my practice of the subject of communication as a whole.”
Spain: Bilbao
In November, USAC Bilbao business students visited the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC). MCC is a business group made of 264 companies and entities organized in three areas: Financial, Industrial and Distribution, together with the Research and Training sectors. It began in 1956 as a humble factory that manufactured oil stoves and paraffin heaters and has become the leading industrial group in the Basque Country. It ranks 7th in Spain and is one of the world's largest worker cooperatives and an important example of workers' self-management. The organization places special emphasis on job creation, the promotion of its workers and a commitment to the development of its social environment. During their visit, USAC students watched a slide show about the Cooperative and attended a presentation about MCC’s organization, structure and current position in the market. As part of this field trip, they also visited the FAGOR electrical appliances plant. (FAGOR is one of the branches of MCC.)
Spain: Madrid
Yoonna Cho, a USAC exchange student from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, completed an internship on the Madrid Fall 2007 program. Yoonna worked with the Madrid office of Plan International, a non-government organization dedicated to helping children in developing countries. She spent her time translating correspondence between sponsors in Spain and sponsor children in beneficiary countries. She wrote, “The letters have taught me more than I could have possibly imagined. I know that ‘Candelaria’ is a girl’s name in the Canary Islands, I know that people from the Basque Country send their children to Euskara schools… Most of all, I know now that a staggering amount of people are giving away their money to make this world a better place for nothing more in return than a bi-annual letter or a child’s drawing.”
Lillian Schaffer, a Graphics Communication major from the University of Houston, also completed an internship in Madrid last semester. She worked as a workshop assistant with a local ceramicist, using her artistic skills to develop ceramic trays, bowls and plates. She also enjoyed the opportunity to help out with a weekly children’s ceramic class.
Irene Landrau (pictured at left), a Spanish/Nursing student from the University of Colorado at Denver, had the opportunity to watch Spanish Senate proceedings in Madrid last November. She was pleasantly surprised by her experience: “Who knew that politics could be so exciting? The discussions, the microphones, the heated debates, seeing the President of Spain… It was almost too much to handle! By the end of the session I could point out which politicians were from the PP or the PSOE, who the President of the Senate was, and even who the Minister of Defense was.”
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