Name: Fabiola Martinez
Class Year: 2023
Major: International Studies and Psychology
Hometown: Aregua, Paraguay
Internship Organization: IES Santiago – Escuela Amor de Dios
Job Title: Psychology Intern
Location: Santiago, Chile
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
My job at the school was to accompany one of the psychologists and the special education teacher during sessions with two pre-K and one kinder student. Besides from that, I was in class supporting the same kids with emotional and academic assistance. During my time there, I also helped lead and come up with ideas for adaptable materials according to their specific needs. Such activities involved games that helped with stimulating and enhancing their cognitive and motor skills, facilitating communication with them, and helping them identify their emotions, as well as how to deal with them.
Why did you apply for this internship?
I applied for this internship because I saw a lot of opportunity going abroad to implement the theoretical knowledge I have acquired in class, while also seeing and learning how things work in a different country. IES abroad gave me the chance to have more freedom in deciding what I wanted my internship to be focused on, while also taking a seminar to reflect on my experience abroad. Given that Latin America happens to be where I’m from and my area of focus for my international studies major, I chose IES Santiago to see how working in the psychology field would be like in a country like Chile, where I would allow myself to be immersed in a culture more similar to mine.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The most rewarding thing about this internship was feeling like I was spending my time being helpful to kids who not only needed support, but also so much care and love. Even with the help and support from all my coworkers and my boss, I was able to see and learn how working with kids with different
disorders at such a young age was like — my favorite part hands down was getting to know them. Seeing them make progress, no matter how small, kept me going for two months. It was amazing to experience first-hand how much of a difference providing care and support for children with adverse experiences can help them reduce future risks and help make their lives a little easier. And it was incredibly rewarding to get to school and look forward to seeing them achieve new things, perform better, and look happier every day.
What has been your favorite part?
This internship was absolutely not what I was expecting, but maybe that was because I did not have any expectations. However, I arrived at Santiago as a rising senior thinking and kind of feeling like I was losing my time this summer instead of already starting to work on my thesis or gaining research experience.
. But this was one of the best summers I’ve had so far. While I was actually gaining so much experience related to my majors at my internship, I was also visiting beautiful places, meeting some amazing people, and making new friends. I got so close to the people I met in Chile that it felt like time passed so fast and two months weren’t enough. I was so sad to leave, but happy I gathered irreplaceable memories, experiences, and friends. The feeling I arrived with was fully reversed and this makes me not want to change anything about this summer.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.