Before coming to Berlin, I thought about what I want to achieve during my time here. Study abroad programs are such a unique opportunity to grow and develop academically, professionally, and personally, so I hope to take advantage of every chance I get to learn. I mentioned my main goals in my last blog post, but I’ll elaborate on how I plan to accomplish them during this eight weeks.

My academic focus for this program is on developing my finance skills. At this point in time, I do not feel confident in utilizing the knowledge I have learned in classes yet, but I will have to do this during this full eight-week internship. I want to accomplish a sense of confidence in what I am studying so that I know it is the right major for me to continue pursuing. I plan to achieve this by being grateful for the work I am given and doing my best to complete it correctly using the knowledge I have. I also plan to let myself try to figure out problems and ask questions if needed so that I can build upon my current knowledge.

This internship will most definitely aid me in future searches for internships and post-graduation jobs, which is my main professional goal. I want to build good network connections through my internship and gain experience that can be used and reflected upon in interviews and other jobs. My plan for achieving this is to be friendly in the office and be a reliable intern so that my boss has a positive impression of me, and I want to maintain good relationships with everyone in the workplace. For future interview material, I plan to take note of valuable experiences and projects within this program so that I can learn from them and use the stories in response to questions about my experience for a job.

Though this is an academic/professional program, I really want to take the time to focus on growing as a person, as well. New locations and programs force you to either be open and accept changes or close yourself off. I want to become a more open and adventurous person by immersing myself in German culture and trying new things that I would not normally do. This is transferrable to being a more adaptable person in the workplace, so I think that accomplishing this goal will help me in personal and professional aspects.

As for my first week, though I have not started work yet, I have already tried new things and begun working towards my personal goal. It has been a bit difficult so far, especially with trying different food, but I am proud of myself so far and hope to get better at this throughout the summer.

Until next post,

Caitlin