by: Quintessence Townsend
Quintessense Townsend (IEM/MPA ’23) describes her experience working with EducationUSA in Almaty, Kazakhstan
Education Week
It was completely by chance that I found out about the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) program. The VSFS program is a large U.S. State Department program that has been in operation since 2009 and has provided over 10,000 internships to undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. Despite all of this, I had no prior knowledge of VSFS’s existence until I met and became friends with an IEM ’22 alum and a current IEM/MPA ’23 student, both of whom recommended I look at the program. I was surprised by both the number of internships available and that the variety of sectors/fields encompassed by those internships. It seemed that there was an internship available for all disciplines, regardless of what their professional background/degree is.
I decided upon EducationUSA Kazakhstan because of my personal interest in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, and because I believe both the country and region to be underrepresented and not well understood within the U.S. international education field. I also think that it’s important that international educators support a diverse range of students, including students coming from countries that do not send as many students to the U.S. as countries like China or India. I also wanted to gain cross-cultural working experience, something that has become more of a necessity for those looking to work in the international education field.
My internship tasks primarily focused on student support in the form of giving presentations to students and offering targeted and specific feedback on their statements of purpose. Not only did I gain and develop several different skills through the course of the internship, but I also learned more about what services, programs, and policies exist in the U.S. higher education space. I developed skills in researching, presentation, public speaking, and listening and responding to questions. Most notably, I learned to utilize and rely on my personal and professional network at MIIS. Normally, I would research, design, and develop presentations by myself, but since studying at MIIS, I’ve learned the value and importance of professional networks beyond simply possessing one. By utilizing my network, I was able to enhance my presentations and deliver more information and advice to students than I would have had I relied only upon myself. This was especially the case for my presentation on resume and CV writing and understanding the U.S. research space, both of which I only have limited knowledge of. Through my internship, I also grew to feel more comfortable with taking initiative, offering suggestions that would influence what internship tasks would be done.
Now, in part because of my virtual internship with EducationUSA Kazakhstan, I am now completing my practicum with EducationUSA Kazakhstan’s Almaty office. And I’m already developing additional skills, like creativity and storytelling, and have found ways to continue to utilize my MIIS network to further support future undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. In order to document the projects I’ve completed, the skills I’ve gained, and to communicate my experience with internal and external audiences, I’ve also created a website with more information on my internship, both virtual and in-person, and can be accessed here.
Without a doubt, the VSFS internship program is something that I would recommend to MIIS students. Not only are there internships available in a wide range of sectors relevant to students’ degree programs and personal or professional interests, but it’s also a good opportunity to develop experience and skills in a sector or with an organization that you otherwise would not be able to. Additionally, at only 10 hours per week, VSFS internships are also very manageable and easy to balance alongside other commitments.