A Letter to Immigrant and International Students

I vividly remember the day when I got my first big internship. I was working in the Law Library when I received a phone call from QVC’s university recruiter, informing me that the SEO team I interviewed with were impressed by my background and were delighted to extend me an offer to join them as their Summer 2022 SEO intern. As I finished my conversation with the recruiter and hung up the call, I tried to comprehend what had just happened to me. It took me a while to realize that all this hard work that I put into my professional development, including on-campus jobs that I held, countless informational coffee chats that I had, career fairs, and resume reviews that I attended, finally paid off.

As soon as you overcome all these barriers and secure your first internship, you will realize how many opportunities await you and how much we can do and learn in our internships. If you told me a year ago that during my time at QVC I would pitch a partnership between QVC and an Oscar-Winning actress during the 2022 Summer Intern Competition, I would never believe this. Therefore, I am grateful to the company for giving me an opportunity to participate in the summer competition and develop a new brand for them along the way.

However, opportunities for foreign students do not end here. Aside from intern projects, you will get the chance to bring everything you have learned in classes and contribute to team projects. I consider this part of the internship to be both challenging and rewarding since you will not only develop soft skills by learning how to work with tight deadlines, think outside of the box, and work in a team, but also get certified in certain programs along the way. For example, by the end of my summer internship, I contributed to many SEO projects, completed an online course for Conductor, and learned the importance of time management.

Additionally, you will learn many valuable lessons from your internship experience that will contribute to your professional growth. The most important lesson that I learned was not to be afraid to ask questions and share your opinions on different topics. Finally, you will be presented with a chance to expand your professional network and meet many professionals in the industry. Remember how Emma Stone sang in La La Land, “Someone in the crowd could take you where you wanna go,” this quote is absolutely true in any industry, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and set up informational chats with company employees outside of your team.