Before thoughts 

When I first had the opportunity to spend two months studying abroad, I was unsure. It felt very scary, partly because I’d only been studying for a year; what did I know about volunteering and studying abroad? Over time, however, I realized: why shouldn’t I take this chance? I’d get to experience a new environment and meet new people. And to gain experience, you have to take risks. So the next thing I know, I had signed on for an internship in Slovenia, a place I never even thought about visiting before. 

I had a pretty clear idea of what my job would entail. Since I’m studying social work, my expectations were largely centered on working with people in vulnerable groups and providing hands-on help in various ways. Also my idea of my social life of work was that I was gonna meet a lot of people and go out of my comfortzone, be as social as possible and have fun!

Under the internship time and afterthoughts. 

The work began, and I was a bit taken aback at first because there was significantly more administrative work than I had imagined. Over time, I realized that this is just as important though, if not more important, for all the other practical work to even exist and function.This job made me realize the importance of administrative work—and that it doesn’t have to be as boring as it might sound. Quite the opposite, actually, it was really fun to plan and make decisions so that everything would run smoothly when it came time to put things into practice. At work, I also met a group of fun and empathetic people, including both mentors and coworkers. Some of them are people I hope will be friends for life.

All in all, overcoming my fears and doing an internship was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I don’t regret a thing. I’ve learned an incredible amount, both professionally and personally.