Freeman Intern Fellows Student Voices
Students describe their experiences in their own words
Jeffrey Gu ’25, FusaoKatoLab, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Having completed my research internship, I have a more clear sense of direction of how to integrate research and academia into my career. In terms of personal development, this internship has allowed me to become far more independent while also growing my ability to interact with different types of people, even if there are language barriers.
Redeit Hailu ’24, We Women Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand
This Fellowship was really great in helping me narrow down where I want to work within the field of Global Development, and how I want to plan my career trajectory. Living in Chiang Mai and meeting people through We women and my own channels has been very insightful and taught me a lot about a region I had little familiarity with. These individuals who have worked in the field for decades both locals and Westerners shared very valuable advice and wisdom about pursuing work in this field. This internship has prepared me for life post-grad more than anything else I've done. It has grown me in new ways and also taught me a lot about myself. Coming into this new city alone and working a remote position was daunting but believe that it forced me to be independent in ways I hadn't before. I learned how to be in community with those from different generations and how to humbly and culturally appropriately carry myself when conducting development work as a foreigner. After this experience, I walk away very confident in my ability to navigate new environments by myself, with a clearer understanding of the work I want to pursue in the future, and with a love for a region of the world I knew little about a year ago.
Peter Awabdeh ’25, Vectr FinTech Partners, Hong Kong, China
This internship really opened by eyes to Venture Capital, international business, and fintech. These weren't really fields I've had experience with before, nor saw myself pursuing a career in. However, after this internship, I feel really excited to find more opportunities in those spaces because it was truly an enjoyable work experience. I felt like Hong Kong was fairly globalised so it made things fairly easier for me to adapt to culturally. However, whenever I witnessed or experienced something new for me culturally, I learned important skills such as being curious and valuing those cultures. Lastly, working at Vectr, I was given really serious and important tasks which made me feel valued and grow my professional skills. I was always worried about joining the workforce as I didn't feel confident in my working skills, but now I'm feeling slightly more confident which is good.
