Thank you to the Dean of Arts Development Fund Award, which gave me the opportunity to freely and wholly engage in my internship at Educonnexion. I am a French student soon entering my fourth year at McGill, where I major in international development and political science.
Driven by strong interests in social issues, international relations and cooperation, I was looking for an internship opportunity that could bring me some insights into these worlds. Educonnexion met all the criteria I was searching for; from a social justice driven mission to an open-minded and warm-hearted team. The organization’s focus on educating communities to an international citizenship compels it to delve into international cooperation, which I find strongly interesting. I was eager to learn more about their education programs, and their communication strategies, which appeared central to building lasting cooperations.
I mainly focused on providing and editing content with the communication team, to inform participants, donors and partners of our missions. Another project I took on was qualitative research which we worked on with two other interns. The goal was to provide insights on violence within scholarly contexts.
I am grateful to have been able to attend workshops presented by Educonnexion that have been of great interest, and to have been able to interact with cooperants undertaking worldwide missions in the name of international cooperation. The time I spent with the other interns at the Centre Lassalien was also both fun and knowledge full.
The internship functioned on a half remote / half office basis, which challenged me at first in that I had trouble concentrating and organizing my day at home. However, I was able to discuss this with my supervisor, and we established closer monitoring with meetings during the first few weeks. This quickly got easier and showed me the importance of entertaining good communication with your colleagues.
First, I would like to say that I fear I will have trouble finding such a supportive, open-minded, and interesting team in my future career path. Educonnexion has set the bar high. Then, the internship confirmed my interest in pursuing a career in the field of development, whether international or community-based.
Finally, the award allowed me to approach the experience with less stress about material aspects and to focus fully on my internship Thus, a heartfelt thank you to Educonnexion, but also to the Dean of Arts Development Fund award for this generous support.
