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A Day In the Life of an InteRDom Intern

March 3, 2009

In the United States, it is not uncommon for University life to become dull and routine… but your experience abroad should be anything but dull! While InteRDom values a strong work ethic, the InteRDom experience is a delicate balance of work and fun, and InteRDom interns in the Dominican Republic have the chance to live both sides of Dominican culture in a vibrant, dynamic setting.

A typical week for an intern on the program consists of three parts: internship, classes and social activities.

Students generally work at their internship site from 18 to 20 hours a week, depending on what his or her contract specifies. The schedule also varies: some interns go to work in the morning, others in the afternoon. Some internships related to development, agriculture, Dominican-Haitian relations and others include a travel itinerary, which allows the students to become involved in other communities. Any additional trips are carefully planned so as not to affect the student’s academic performance.

Speaking of academics, depending on what the student has chosen for an academic program, most students take between 4-8 hours of class per week. If the student in enrolled in our Caribbean Culture course, class time includes field trips and cultural outings around the city. If the student in enrolled in courses with other Dominican students, the class itself will be an immersion experience, as you learn how a Dominican classroom functions and how students are expected to behave.

The InteRDom HOT Summer Seminars are an added bonus to everyone’s academic program! These seminars give students the opportunity to debate current “hot” topics with community leaders and experts in the field, not to mention other Dominican, Haitian and international students. The topics this summer are hotter than ever! As the Dominican Republic was recently added to the World Bank’s top 10 list of Latin American economies, we will be giving a seminar entitled “Doing Business in Latin America” in conjunction with the World Bank. Our other seminar, “Civil Rights in Latin America,” will focus on the steps taken in recent years (both legislative and independent) to improve the situation of human and civil rights of all Dominican (and non-Dominican) citizens.

At InteRDom we understand that All Work + No Play = No Fun, and we want you to enjoy your experience abroad! For this reason, we have organized an exhilarating agenda of cultural excursions that will allow you to travel all over the landscape of the country. Our “plus one” policy is a measure that we take to encourage you to invite a friend from school or from your internship—and all his/her expenses are paid! You will learn much more about Dominican culture if you experience it with actual Dominicans!

In addition to these trips, we plan a fun activity for one night each week to give all of the InteRDom students a chance to get together, catch-up, talk about their experiences… and to have a little fun!

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