First-term has almost ended, second-year students are working on their CVs and first-years are studying for their first exams. For this reason, I have decided to make an interview with Ana (21) who finished her internship and currently a third-year student.
Ana comes from Macedonia where is a collectivistic country where “everybody is together”. Her relationships with family members and friends occupy a significant place in her life: “I dedicate myself for my closest people”, Ana said, “Also ‘love’ overall… my motive is to spread the love”. In addition to the importance she gives to interpersonal relationships, Ana is a very ambitious person and highly focused on her goals. She tries to do her best when it comes to her career and works hard for what she dreams of.
Ana is really enthusiastic about the PR industry and her interest in this business is coming from her high school years. Despite it, she didn’t know that there is a major which covers PR in the Netherlands. After making researches and getting to know more about the media and communication studies, she realized that this programme fit her goals. Then she applied for several universities in the Netherlands, accepted to all but chose to study at Erasmus University since Rotterdam is a student city. Since Ana is a third-year IBCoM student, I asked about her experience in two years of IBCoM and she said that it was just like what she expected, demanding yet fun.
“The fun part was the curriculum itself as we studied our daily lives basically… we looked everything deeply so it motivated me to look at life in different ways.”. However, she was expecting the programme to be more practical such as television, media or public speaking. On the other hand, Ana got those practical skills and improved herself by participating in extracurricular activities.
Since Ana is passionate about PR, she wants to work in this industry after graduation: “It’s my dream, it’s my goal, it’s my wish…” , Ana told me when I asked her what she wants to do in the future. This is what she was aiming when she enrolled in the university and she is on that path, climbing the ladders one by one.
Because of her dream to work as a PR Director, Ana did her first internship in the PR industry as well, nonetheless, she did her second internship in the US Embassy, which is a really appealing place as an intern.
“I found it out through an ad that popped out to me accidentally,” Ana began to tell her story of working in the US embassy, “… the universe sent it to me basically”.
I wanted to know more about the selection process and she said that it was a complex procedure in which she had to submit her CV, biography, documents that prove she didn’t commit any crime and answers for the questions they asked. Then, she had an interview with the people in charge and she got passed. For the last, she had a security check to prove certain things, for instance, to show that she is not a threat to the embassy. After all those operations, Ana became an intern at the US embassy, and we are going to dive into that in our “Tips and Tops” series.
Now, Ana is doing a minor in entrepreneurship and besides that, she is part of the IBCoMagaine Editorial Board as a PR Director and a student mentor. Also, she is preparing herself to start a career.
To conclude, I asked her if she has any suggestions: “be organized, prepare a lot and research your opportunities” said Ana as advice, “… use your hours in the day… you have only three years of the university so between all that partying and Netflix take some time to develop yourself as a person… see what you are, see who you are… these three years will be really really valuable to you after you finish”.
I appreciated that Ana took some time to talk to me about herself and give advice/insight on the IBCoM.
Author: Zeynep Kunduracilar
Editor: Kat Nivera