Tips and Tales From Around the Globe

RALEIGH, NC and ANNAPOLIS, MD – Monica Smiley, publisher and CEO of Enterprising Women magazine, has announced the winners of the 2015 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, an annual tribute to the world’s top women entrepreneurs. Emily Merson, President and CEO of Annapolis-based Global Experiences, will be honored for her entrepreneurial achievements at the 13th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards & Conference, Sunday, March 29 to Tuesday, March 31 at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

This is a guest blog from Emily Smith. Emily is a student from Salisbury University, currently interning abroad through her school and Global Experiences. Here, she shares some of her thoughts on what has been like to become a local in Paris.

“What do you do?” As a 20-something living near Washington DC, I often face this question: in bars, group meetings, first dates, and even at the gym or on the bus. My usual prepared statement is “I prepare students for international internships through a third-party provider, from the time they enroll in our program until their ‘wheels leave the ground,’” and I usually provide context to this statement by explaining that our organization is somewhat like a study abroad provider, yet we give students and young professionals the opportunity to work abroad rather than study. People will often say “That’s cool,” or “Oh, fun! Do you get to travel a lot?” and then the conversation moves on. In perusing through the June 2014 issue of the Harvard Business Review today, however, I’ve discovered my new elevator speech:

Skimming through the archives of one of my go-to news sites, PolicyMic, I was aghast to come across an article that goes against everything I believe in: 5 Reasons College Students Should Not Study Abroad. At first glance, I assumed that this was a pressure point piece, being controversial as a way to assure a rush of comments and readers.

After scrolling down to the comments, my belief about how great travel is was affirmed by the 50+ responses  from outraged wanderlusters like myself, who all shared my opinion that living abroad is the experience of a lifetime.

When/what/where was your internship? How was it?