Carolina Albuja Batallas | Internship Spotlight

Carolina Albuja Batallas, MPSA Class of 2019

1. Where and with whom did you do your internship?
   I did my internship at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC. I worked in the Secretariat for Access to Rights and Equity.
2. What were your primary responsibilities?
   My main responsibilities were to conduct research about migration issues, specifically the causes of illegal migration and the effects of this problem in economic, social, and political terms. The main purpose of this was to create a pilot program to implement in different municipal commonwealths in Central America to address the roots of migration and to help these communities achieve economic development, justice, and security planning.
3. Which of your previous classes or learning experiences were most useful to you during the internship?
   While working with databases and survey construction, the analytical skills that I learned in Quantitative Methods I and II were both very useful. Also, Public Policy Formation gave me the necessary tools to make suitable policy proposals and communicate them in an adequate way.
4. What were the highlights or most important learning opportunities from your internship experience?
   The main highlights of this internship were working together with other international organizations and learning about the same issue from different perspectives. I was in constant contact with different agencies of the United Nations, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and USAID, among others. I was also working with experts on the subject, and they included me in all their projects, events, and meetings from the beginning. I was really pleased to be put under the spotlight in several meetings because they valued my feedback and were interested in the ideas I could propose.
5. Do you have any advice for first year Bush School students who may be applying for an internship for this summer?
   First, I highly encourage first year Bush School students to take advantage of the courses the Bush School offers to improve their analytical skills. They will definitely have better opportunities to get an internship if they know how to work with databases and propose policies based on what the data might be reflecting. Second, I recommend them to get in contact with second year Bush School students that had their internship in institutions they would be interested in applying to. Finally, I encourage first year Bush School students to be confident about their skills and abilities, because the Bush School does a great job preparing us to appropriately overcome the challenges we will face in the internship and succeed in it.