PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE (PCC)
As soon as I became aware of the opportunity to complete my IEM and DPMI+ practica at Portland Community College’s Education Abroad Office, I jumped right at the opportunity without ever looking back. I chose completing my practicum at PCC because multiple IEM alumni had previously completed practicum there and the position offered significant day to day involvement in advising and operations within the office. Common daily tasks included working on Terra Dotta applications, developing marketing and informational materials, conducting one-on-one and group advising sessions, and solving unique challenges facing students and our programs. Despite the similarities in task from day to day however, no day is the same. While one of the biggest things that I learned during my experience is how differently individual study abroad offices can run themselves, I feel that this experience has allowed me to appreciate that and learn how to adapt to an institutional context. This flexibility will help me as I move into new roles at other institutions in the future and it helped me to see how theory is implemented in practice in the real world outside of MIIS. As a result of the opportunity that this practicum provided me and others, all IEM alumni who have completed their practicum at PCC have been quickly hired to full-time roles at other higher education institutions relatively quickly following the end of their last semester (and with the support the office provided me during my job search, I am no exception). I highly recommend this opportunity and encourage other students to reach out to me if they want to learn more about my experience. Talking to other MIIS alumni is what got me to PCC in the first place.
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