Well, originally I was going to be part of the South Africa Cape Town program, but due to COVID the program was canceled. Connect-123 was great enough to help connect me elsewhere, and I ended up working as a policy intern for a Dutch company based out of their Shanghai office. I helped with policy work and wrote newsletters for Chinese firms that were trying to enter the European market.

It was great because I got to work with both native Chinese interns and some of the Dutch people who were the program directors in Shanghai. A fun memory of mine was when I was traveling - sometimes I would have a call at 10:00 a.m. my time, which equated to about 5:00 p.m. in Shanghai.

Google is a very international company, and my program was too. I have a lot of international coworkers and sometimes clients that are based outside of the United States. Working that internship helped me understand how to collaborate with people from different cultures, across different time zones, and how to be a good partner to them.

I’d say definitely do it. Now it’s easier than ever - there are really no barriers. And do it with a program like Connect-123, where the staff are the best.

Looking back now, I realize how much care Connect-123 had in still making sure I could do an international internship despite COVID.