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Four students, four very different places, four stories. The experiences of
four returned Dickey international interns will be the focus of a panel to be
held Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. in the Kreindler Conference Room, Haldeman
Center 041 (lower level). The panel is part of a series of events celebrating
the 25th anniversary of the John
Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding.
From left: R. Abraham Holland '08, Camille A. Herland '08, Dickey Center
Director Ken Yalowitz, Avni M. Shah '07, and Gardner O. Cadwalader '07. The
students all participated in the Dickey Center's international internship
program and will share their experiences at a Feb. 21 panel. (Photo by Joseph
Mehling '69)
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The international intern program, says Dickey Center Director Kenneth
Yalowitz, "is one of the important ways we carry on John Sloan Dickey's
legacy. International interns fulfill Dickey's vision of sending Dartmouth
students out into the world, his desire that they get out, and find out, and do
something good for the world."
All returning interns file brief reports on their experiences abroad. Those
reports are gathered in a book housed in the Dickey Center's offices in the
Haldeman Center; a selection of reports is also available on the Dickey Center Web site.
Robert Clough, international internship program coordinator, notes that,
"The Feb. 21 panel will be an opportunity for these four students to share
their stories. For prospective interns," he continues, "it's an
opportunity to put the face of a fellow Dartmouth student on an experience that
could seem overwhelming at first. Former interns are a great resource for
students planning international internships of their own."
Panel members concur. Recalling their application process and reading the
reports of returned Dickey interns, Herland, Holland, and Shah remember being
impressed, even amazed, by the achievements of their predecessors. One message
they each hope to convey to attendees: "If I can do this, you can,
too."
Students' reasons for pursuing international internships can be as varied as
their destinations. Shah, who plans a career in medicine, volunteered with a
program for mentally disabled children, based at the Uttam Talim Kendra
Community Center in Ahmedabad, India. "The center was very small, and had
never had a volunteer before," she recalls, "but it meant that even
just as one person, I could make a difference in their lives." Her
internship—and the flexibility of the D-Plan—made it possible for her to
fulfill a long-held dream of visiting the country of her family's heritage.
Holland interned with Synovate Business Consulting in Shanghai, a connection
initiated through Dartmouth Career
Services and the alumni network. Daily business in Synovate's office, he
reports, was conducted primarily in Mandarin. Living and working in Shanghai,
Holland says, provided "an incredible opportunity for me to push my
Chinese language skills."
An earth science major, Cadwalader's search for an international internship
linked to his studies and potential career paths led him to the Centre of
Exchange and Research in Volcanology in Colima, Mexico. The Centre's study of
the active Colima volcano is truly an international effort, notes Cadwalader,
who worked alongside students and researchers from Germany, the United Kingdom,
and elsewhere on a project headed by a British scientist. Since his return,
another Dickey intern has joined the team at Colima.
Herland, a government major, chose a placement with the U.S. State
Department, interning at the United States Mission to International
Organizations in Vienna, Austria. Although she worked with other Americans,
living in a foreign city, away from the familiar rhythms of academic life at
Dartmouth, Herland says, made for a distinctive experience. Her fellow
panelists agree: beyond the exposure to work, research, or service that any
internship can provide, their international internships gave them the
opportunity to experience the transforming effect of a first-hand, uncloistered
encounter with life in another culture, something that is difficult to acquire
when abroad simply as a traveler, or even as a student.
The student panel presentation will be followed immediately by an open house
in the Russo Gallery of the Haldeman Center. For further information call
646-2023.
By KELLY SEAMAN
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