Sonia Ushijima De La Fuente is our 2nd year student of the two years MA program in International Relations. This Academic year she is spening the Fall term in New York taking part in the joint Bard-CEU initiative.
Read below Sonia's impressions in her own words:
"This Fall semester I am studying abroad in NYC. I am interning at Asia Society during the day, and in the evenings, I take classes at Bard Globalization and International Affairs. Asia Society is located only about twenty minutes away walking distance from the student residence, so it is nice to be able to take a walk around NYC every morning while going to work and experience its vibrant life.
At Asia Society, I am participating in a joint internship between Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) and Asia Society Global Initiatives (GI). I interned for GI mostly during September because of the United Nations General Assembly as many government officials came to discuss major issues in the region to Asia Society. Among them we hosted the foreign minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the foreign minister of Singapore Vivian Balakrishnan, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir Bin Mohamad and many others. During that month, I drafted questions to be asked to the speakers, prepared briefs about them, met consuls and other government officials for pre-event walk-ins, and provided event coordination support. From October on, I will mostly be interning for Asia Society Policy Institute which is a think-tank that tackles major policy challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific in security, prosperity, sustainability, and the development of common norms and values for the region. During my time with ASPI, I will write, edit, and proofread policy memos and event-meeting summaries. I will also have the opportunity to attend and report on meetings at the United Nations and at various NGOs in New York City.
This opportunity to take classes, attend conferences and events, and intern in a Global City like NYC has been a life changing experience that I will surely never forget. In addition, interning at Asia Society has given me insight into practical knowledge participating in project planning, and event coordination activities, but also think-tank and research projects".