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What did you expect from an internship at Concordia before starting? Has the internship met your expectations?

First of all, I did not expect to go to Colombia for the Americas Summit! The level of involvement that I had with preparations leading up to the Americas Summit and during the event itself was really something that I did not expect, but I’m really thankful to have been able to participate. One really exciting aspect of this involvement was inviting various heads of state, presidents, and prime ministers to the Summit. To have the kind of role and responsibility where my words are being read by someone of such a high profile is not something I expected. The internship was a great, immersive experience overall.

 

Tell us a little bit about working in Bogotá at the 2018 Concordia Americas Summit – I know you had only started a month prior to the summit, and already were granted substantial responsibilities.

The Americas Summit in Bogotá, on my part, involved a lot of moving around and being responsive to different kinds of situations. My position was a floating one, so I assisted all departments that needed an extra hand. Because my role was to help out in situations where things might have not gone as planned, I found that being responsive and flexible depending on the environment was the best course of action. There are so many moving parts to an event of this magnitude, so my role was to just be very reactive.

 

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome working in the Global Events team?

The biggest challenge, for me, was working in a team where people are remote and not in the office day-to-day. I had never worked in a role where the aspect of collaborating with people remotely was a reality. However, my team was still constantly communicating and getting things done, so I would say that this role was a great lesson in learning to communicate in an unconventional way, where you don’t always see the people you’re working with face-to-face.