Congyi Dai, PSAA Class of 2020
- Where and with whom did you do your internship?
I interned at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) in Minneapolis this summer, supervised by Dr. Steve Suppan. - What were your primary responsibilities?
I was assigned to a program working on China’s trade policy reactions to climate change. My main responsibilities were conducting individual research on an internationally traded agricultural commodity that increases greenhouse gas production, reviewing China’s climate policies that aim to prevent greenhouse gas production, and following trade policies that could be used to prevent the problems. This research aimed to explore the dynamic interaction among agriculture production, climate change policy, and trade policy. - Which of your previous classes or learning experiences were most useful to you during the internship?
The most valuable class for this specific internship was International Trade Policy. Many of the concepts and theories that I needed to know for the job were covered in this class. - What were the highlights or most important learning opportunities from your internship experience?
The highlights from my internship were weekly morning meetings and bi-weekly international meetings. I learned a lot of things from very talented people there, especially at the meetings, where people shared their perspectives on things that were important for the organization’s agenda. I am also glad that there were other programs within the organization that are not trade-related because by talking to people from different programs, I got to broaden my scope of knowledge. - Do you have any advice for first-year Bush School students who may be applying for an internship for this summer?
Start as early as possible! I do not recommend using the same cover letter for different organizations, even if the job descriptions are similar. From my experience, you’d want to write every cover letter for the specific organization and position.
