Arianna Vassallo is 21 and lives in Rome. She is a university student and she is also part of AIESEC, the world’s largest organization run by students. She is currently the Public Relations manager for AIESEC in Italy.
– What are you studying? Which university are you attending?
I’m attending the third year of Political sciences and International Relations in Roma Tre University in Rome.
– What kind of internship did you choose and why?
In June 2011 I decided to spend my summer doing something different from the usual holiday with parents or friends. So, I decided to do a volunteering internship abroad with AIESEC, because I was searching for a cross cultural experience in which I could explore multiculturalism, personal growth and concrete impact. But what I found was something better: a life changing experience.
– Which country and which city did you go to?
Thanks to this internship I made one of my main dreams come true: to visit Africa. I decided in particular to go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
– How long did your internship last?
I left Italy the 26th of July and I came back the 9th of September, so the internship lasted around 7 weeks. Sometimes I think that it was longer than this, but when I was there 7 weeks flew too fast.
– What was your internship about exactly?
My internship consisted in managing the communication part of an international event called “BarCamp”. BarCamp is a particular format of event, free and young, born in the US in 2005. The 2011 edition was the second edition in Ethiopia and I worked with Ethiopian students in the creation of the communication strategy to promote the event, having meetings with companies and institutions. I also ran training in communication to students, members of AIESEC in Ethiopia.
– Five things you learnt during the internship?
1) Travel without expectation is the best thing ever, because you can absorb everything without mental restrictions.
2) You can have a real cultural exchange only if you are able to hear stories of people around you who come from different realities.
3) “Steal” as much as you can from people around you… one of the sentences that drove me during my trip was: “Every person is better than you in something, so learn about that thing”.
4) Like children, be amazed for every little thing
5) A smile and a candy are the best things that you can give away
– Why did you choose to go to Africa and to Addis Ababa in particular?
As I wrote above, going to Africa has been one of my main dreams since I was a child, so when I decided to do an internship abroad I immediately started to search which kind of opportunities African countries could offer. I was so committed to go there, without a real reason. So, I decided to go to Ethiopia because I liked the internship available there: I had the opportunity to combine my desire to visit an African country with the chance to work in communication, that is the field in which I’d like to work.
– What was the best moment of your experience?
I often asked myself this question, but I never had an answer. Every time I ask myself which was the best moment in Addis Ababa the “best moment” is different. This time my best moment is when I went looking for a shop where I could buy a phone card. I asked 3 young shoe shiners (children who clean shoes in each corner of the city) and they came with me to the shop. I bought my phone card and in the meanwhile they stayed there waiting and smiling. The owner of the shop told me : “be careful of your wallet”. So I took my wallet and I bought three lollipops for them. They started laughing and jumping around me and then they went back to work. Some hours later I passed in front of them to come back home and they shouted at me “Hello! Hello!!” and they pointed at me with their friends, maybe saying something like “It’s her, she is the girl who gave us that gift”. Yes, it was one of the best moment of my Ethiopian experience.
-Would you change your experience in any way?
I would have liked to stay longer. But as a matter of fact 7 weeks were enough to start understanding the culture and the world around me, and were enough to give me the will to go back soon.
– Any suggestions for students who are about to leave on an AIESEC internship?
Leave your country really understanding that you are going to live a unique experience, don’t waste time complaining, use time to understand. Don’t live as a tourist, but live your internship as a person of that country, live with natives, follow their lives , talk a lot and ask more. Share with your friends what you’re living and when the experience is finished, never stop showcasing what you did.
