Last week was Emma’s last day as the Research and Editorial Intern at the IARS International Institute. Here is what she had to say about her time at IARS:
I have served as Research and Editorial Intern at IARS for slightly over three months now. As an American student, living and studying in Britain for the first time, I was not sure what to expect, especially because I had never worked in the non-profit sector before. However, my experience at IARS has helped me grow in areas I never knew I needed to improve. Additionally, I have been able to refine skills and renew interests by serving in this capacity that will serve me for years to come.
From the beginning, I felt welcomed and was trusted to carry out tasks that felt meaningful and important, not like typical intern work. Though I had limited experience with some of the tasks, everyone created a very supportive space for me to ask questions and learn. Project work was interesting and appropriately challenging, but not ever so difficult I felt overwhelmed. Because my position was research and writing based, I often edited pending publications, researched policy, analysed public surveys, and wrote project reports, blog posts, and literature reviews for existing projects, including YEIP, PROCHILD, Drop-In, and Restore: London.
Through my work on these projects, I developed valuable skills and learned more about UK policy and social issues than I ever thought I would. Additionally, I renewed an interest in policy research at an NGO level which will serve me well in my future endeavors to further study politics and law.
To sum up my time at IARS, I want to reiterate how important this opportunity has been to me, in a personal and academic sense as I have grown and learnt so much in such a short amount of time. I want to thank my fellow interns who made each day so enjoyable and project coordination so easy. Finally, I want to thank my supervisors during my time here who trusted me, supported me, and gave me a space to learn and grow. The lessons and perspectives I have developed during my time at IARS will go with me back to the States and will be carried through all of my future endeavors.
We are truly grateful for Emma’s hard work and contributions at IARS, and we would like to wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours! Thank you Emma!
