My internship at UPS Public Affairs in international politics | News from the FIU
Margarita M. Phillips
3 min read
Last name: Emelie Jimenez
Hometown: Miami-Dade
What is your major? Political science. Global Learning Medallion student.
Where are you intern? UPS Public Affairs
What’s your title? International political intern
How did you get your internship? Thanks to my previous internship position in administration and programs / communications at The Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, I was encouraged to apply for the Martha Flores scholarship. This scholarship was created by Jose Acosta, former president of UPS Public Affairs Americas, in honor of his late mother Martha Flores, a former Cuban radio host known as “La Reina de la Nocheâ€. After two rounds of interviews, I was awarded the first award recipient of the scholarship and was offered a summer internship at the UPS public affairs office in Washington, DC.
What are you doing here? My current role is to write reports that follow political and economic traction in Latin America as well as analyze the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition, I have carried out a series of comparisons between SMEs in developing and developed countries to determine where improvements can be made in transport and exports.
What projects have you worked on? In addition to working on a series of LATAM reports for the UPS Public Affairs International team, I have also worked extensively on the UPS Women’s Exporter program. This program is designed to provide women-owned SMEs with the opportunity to access global markets and the tools used to improve relations with consumers and businesses as well as export progress.
How does your internship relate to your curriculum? Throughout my academic career, I have developed a passion for policy writing and analytical research, a skill I was able to focus on and improve upon throughout my time here. In addition, my past knowledge of Latin American politics allowed me to directly embark on current projects because I already knew the subject.
What’s the coolest thing about your internship? The most exciting part of my internship was being able to work independently on projects that were entrusted to me. Being able to be trustworthy and count on the realization of my projects made this experience even more fruitful because I really felt that my work was meaningful and useful for my future career.
What did you like the most about your experience? The friendships and bonds that I made. Most of the interns share a house together, so we immediately developed a close bond that allowed us to lean on each other.
What have you learned about yourself? This experience made me realize my ability to work under pressure and multitasking. In addition, throughout my stay here, I have noticed that I can easily adapt to new environments and learn new skills depending on the situation.
What advice would you give to those new to the internship process? Be patient, resilient, and spend the extra time crafting a complete resume and cover letter, as well as finding a position you want. You can never be too prepared.
How did the position increase your professional confidence? I now understand the importance of effective communication in the workplace. A lot of information gets lost in translation, so following up and asking questions is the only way to ensure success.
How did the internship broaden your professional network? Throughout this experience, I worked with several other interns in the private and public sectors. Relationships will be of great use to me in my social and professional career, especially for getting advice on a certain topic that I am not familiar with and looking for a job offer that a friend might relate to.
