I knew that participation as an intern in the Peruvian embassy was going to be a great experience to further my Spanish language skills, learn more about Peruvian culture and people, as well as gaining a greater understanding and appreciation in the field of international relations.
Working as an intern in Canberra provided me with various challenges, which allowed me to further myself in several ways. I got a taste of the full-time workload that comes with working in an embassy and felt the benefits of assisting important figures with meaningful tasks.
Highlight: The people I worked with made the experience a home run for me. Everyone was incredibly welcoming and made it easy to enjoy everything I was doing. Furthermore, they showed incredible hospitality and gratitude for my help inviting me out on multiple occasions, even an Asia cup Soccer game! One particular day I was asked to sit in on an important meeting between the head embassy officials and various ministers of the Australian government, which was a major highlight and incredible experience for me. Also the translating of documents from both English to Spanish and Spanish to English forced me to greatly develop my Spanish vocabulary which is a huge benefit for me.
Challenge: As an international business/ Finance/ Spanish major my primary goal from the internship was to force myself to utilise and further my study of Spanish. After experiencing first-hand the activities and challenges of working in the embassy and in the field of international relations, I really believe I have opened the door to potential future study in the field of international relations.
Advice: Don’t hold back, jump straight in the deep end! Every day is going to have it's challenging, however, if you push yourself and embrace the culture and the language you will get so much out of this experience!
