By Jillian Litster – Jillian works as the Academic Supervisor for GlobaLinks Learning Abroad Internship Programs.
Jillian Litster, Academic Supervisor Internships
I recently had the very great pleasure to participate in a networking function hosted by GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, for interns and host-supervisors in Sydney (Australia). As I live and work in Rockhampton, Queensland (also Australia) it is not often that I get to meet interns or their supervisors face-to-face. My contact with these people has traditionally been by email, with just the very occasional telephone call as required. Being in the same room with them was a new experience for me and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Me enjoying the networking night. (I had to sit down at this point as my feet were beyond painful, but what a great chair!)
The function networking venue was The Arthouse Attic, Sydney.
We live in a very online world where technology has made it easier to connect with people across the globe. We can now, cheaply and easily, even see their face and talk with them via Skype or some other video-conferencing program. Despite this, I have to say that nothing beats the experience of really meeting someone in person. Any international intern will tell you (I believe) that whilst the capacity to see and talk with family and friends “back home” helps to relieve homesickness, it is not a cure. Similarly, whilst we can be in regular contact with people through technology and social media, being able to spend even just 5 minutes in the same room with someone is still so much more satisfying than all the phone-calls, emails, video-chats, texting or any other not-in-person experiences.
As I was typing the previous sentence, it reminded me of all the multiple-words-joined-by-hyphens that I came across in the work of Martin Heidegger (philosopher, Being and Time) when I worked on my Masters Thesis (Educational Tourism and the Authenticity of the Tourist Experience, unpublished). Very simplistically, in the thesis I related the concept of Dasien with the authentic experience, with “being there”. The ability to “be there”, to authentically experience the tourist destination, was enhanced by knowledge, education and learning and by being able to engage with the place from a more informed perspective than simply sight-seeing. Similarly, for me at least, the networking night was my Dasien for internships. Just as students studying at university can learn about their career, an internship provides a Dasien experience that takes that learning to the next level. For me, meeting with interns and supervisors at the networking function in Sydney last week, made my role seem even more authentic than all the emails and phone calls of the past five years. Plus, it was fun.
When interns get to travel to another country to live, and to learn how their study applies in a real-world situation, it is not just about the skills and application of those skills but is also very much about the people they meet and with whom they network. At the risk of quoting from a Wikipedia entry (and apologies to any serious philosophers out there):
Heidegger uses the expression Dasein to refer to the experience of being that is peculiar to human beings. Thus it is a form of being that is aware of and must confront such issues as personhood, mortality and the dilemma or paradox of living in relationship with other humans while being ultimately alone with oneself. (URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasein , viewed 29 October 2013)
Honestly, doesn’t that describe the international internship experience to a tee? The only change I would make is replace “mortality” with “career” and everything else fits. We undertake the journey alone but live in relationship with other humans.
The role of “networking” in this equation is in recognising that the internship experience is about our “relationship with other humans”. It is about seeking out the authentic moments where we connect with people, either at our internship site, our daily activities and/or our travels. When we meet with people face-to-face we are potentially networking for our future in what is still the most authentic way possible. When that meeting takes place at social gatherings that are fun, well, that is a bonus.
