California State University San Marcos – Office of Global Education

As an international student, the biggest value of this practicum is giving me an opportunity to work full time in a U.S. university. I worked as an intern in the Office of Global Education at CSU San Marcos, where I did my undergraduate study at. The Associate Director Danielle McMartin, my student advisor at that time inspired me to apply for IEM program because of her genuine care for international students. During this practicum, I had the opportunity to learn from how she would interact with students in the different situation as well as how she would communicate with other faculty and staff. Not only did she give me many opportunities to participate in a variety of tasks, she also connected me with staff in different departments and encouraged me to have informational interviews with them. These informational interviews allowed me to explore different career options in depth and receive invaluable advice from the experts.

I became more confident now in general because of this practicum. One of the first things I learned in the office was taking phone calls, which I had always been nervous about. My mentor trained me on greeting people professionally, taking notes and transferring the person to appropriate resources. Even though it’s just a basic skill for an entry-level job, it was a great progress for me because I overcame my shyness and lack of confidence when talking in English, especially over the phone. This responsibility also made me more eager to learn more so I can be more helpful over the phone.
This practicum also gave me opportunities to demonstrate my computer skills. Because I’m a quick technology learner, I enjoy learning new software and utilize them in my work. I taught myself graphic design on Adobe Illustrator and Indesign, which I used to create event posters for International Education Week, Photo Contest and Coffee Hour. When I heard that the office needed a promotional video for study abroad marketing, I asked to take on this task because I wanted to have a visualized work sample to show my future employer. Even though I had video editing experience, this task was still very difficult for me because I need to be the planner, the director, the photographer and the editor. However, this video turned out to be my proudest deliverable.

In addition to creating the promotional video, I also designed an Alumni contact survey to help the office start collecting international Alumni information for recruiting propose, coordinated a weekly cultural program for 40 international students and study abroad returnees, and conducted the first international student orientation survey at CSUSM. This practicum opportunity provided me with a lot of valuable experiences which expanded my resume and boost my confidence.

 
Back to California Page