Success Stories

Kevin Adams in Switzeralnd: Witnessing the United Nations from the Inside

I had the opportunity to complete an internship at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in Switzerland through Foreign Affairs Canada's Young Professionals International program. During this internship, I researched and compiled reports on global defence issues and provided a detailed history of the development period and significant operational uses of various defence systems. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as I witnessed the United Nations in action from the inside! Where else can you meet with a cross-section of the world while standing in line at the cafeteria for your lunch?

I learned to be adaptable: being assigned seemingly trivial tasks is a way for an employer to gauge the intern's capacity, as building credibility and credentials takes a bit of time. This is the best time to impress the supervisors! Being pro-active with the position and showing initiative and resourcefulness can be a way to be awarded with higher responsibilities. Your internship is a two-way street: you are there to learn from your assigned organization but you have also been selected because you possess a special set of skills and knowledge. An international internship opportunity is an opportunity to sell those skills.

In adversity, I have learned not to fight my new environment, but to embrace it and all of its arising challenges. This experience gave me a better understanding of what it means to be Canadian, and of our place in the world, our strengths and our limitations. More importantly though, it gave me a better understanding of who I am as a human being.