A Day in the Life as an IJM Intern

As an intern or employee in the somewhat-traditional professional world, I often get the question: “What do you, like, do each day?” So, in this blog post, I’ll try my best to outline what a normal day looks like for me. First, I wake up to my 7:00 a.m. alarm, get into my business casual …

The Exhilarating (and Scary!) Onboarding of My Dream Internship

As some of you may know, my off-campus study experience in D.C. was primarily motivated by my life-long dream to work with the non-profit International Justice Mission. International Justice Mission is the largest anti-human trafficking non-profit, existing with the singular mission of protecting the poor from violence. It beautifully and effectively works by building relationships …

The Women’s March: Protesting While Experiencing the Spirit of Washington

One of the best parts about entering the nation’s political hub is definitely getting to watch democracy transpire all around you. Any day, you can witness think tanks updating curious citizens about the details of international tension or maybe faith in politics. Museums outlining the creation of our country and its following issues are open …

Settling In When Far Outside Your Comfort Zone

Don’t get me wrong, traveling or living away from home is a blessing. But one of the many reasons traveling is good for the soul is because it can be, well, uncomfortable. When my family left me to fend for myself in D.C., shortly after this photo was snapped, I wasn’t sure where to go. …

Learning to Live with Uncertainty

The people who know me know that I like to have everything planned out far in advance. Four year planning is one of my favorite things to do, and last minute planning stresses me out. Not knowing what’s going on stresses me out. However, I, along with everyone from my program and 18 million Chileans, …

Trying Not to Get Hit by a Bus and Other Extreme Sports

A good public transportation system is on practically everyone’s Benefits of Living in a Big City list. It may even have a fighting chance for the number one spot. Being able to get where you want to go without having to drive yourself or walk is a huge bonus. As long as you get there …

Beauty at High Altitude

In my last blog post I talked a bit about my trip up to the northern Chilean town of Putre, and I’m going to take this opportunity to share a little bit more about the trip with you because, honestly, it was beautiful and I loved every minute of it. During the trip, we got …

The Key is Reciprocity

Part of my SIT study abroad program is getting the opportunity to travel throughout the country, and stay with host families of different cultures. The first of these trips was to the northern Chilean town of Putre, where I got the opportunity to stay with an Aymara family for several days. The Aymara people are …

Photo Diary of Chilean Independence Day Celebrations!

As I mentioned in my last blog, the entire week surrounding September 18th, Chilean Independence Day, is completely filled with celebrations of every type from everyone. I was lucky enough to be able to share these celebrations with my host family and friends, and I would love to share some of them with you via …

Deja Vu in the Midst of Culture Shock

Most of the time, when you go to a new country, everything seems new. You don’t know what’s going on half of the time, and they call that culture shock. But sometimes, occasionally, you spot weird similarities between cultures and they stand out more than all of the differences in the world. For example, when …