Skills Learned in the ISP

I have had many opportunities to develop my communication skills through the International Scholars Program. In my MASS Clinic internship, I got to work with a variety of people from many different backgrounds. This led to challenged including health literacy and language barriers, which I had to adapt and improvise to overcome with the clinic's resources. I gained a lot of experience in communicating effectively and efficiently despite numerous challenges. I also worked with a lot of other staff including administrators and providers, and had to facilitate communication between everyone to maintain an efficient flow of patients. 

My international coursework included a lot of writing. In my International Humanitarian Aid course, we wrote professional memos from the perspective of non-government organizations about responding to various humanitarian crises that we studies. Through this, I learned how to write concisely while effectively, and how to be professional and sensitive given the subject manner. We did lots of reading as well and I became familiar with writing formats used in professional situations. 

Serving as a director and then president of Gators for Refugee Medical Relief taught me a lot about servant leadership. In this organization, I learned both how to prioritize the refugee communities we were serving, and how to work with and lead the team of directors I worked with. It was important to build a culture of dedication, compassion, and caring for with which we could best accomplish our goals or serving others and develop as individuals and as a team. 

In my international experience where I planned and embarked on a trip to multiple countries across South America and Europe, I certainly learned a lot about adaptability. In places where there's a language barrier and a lack of available information, I had to change plans a lot and do my best to make things work in tough situations. Flexibility was extremely necessary to make the most of the trip and adapt to unforeseen circumstances- like missing a flight in Peru due to airport regulations we were unaware of, or spraining my ankle in France and being unable to finish our 100-mile hike and being 30 miles from a town. These unexpected situations are part of what made the trip such a great experience and something that helped me develop and grow so much.