涩里番

I would like to begin my internship report by thanking Mrs. Elizabeth Merifield Galindo for funding the Dario and Elizabeth Merifield Galindo Internship Award. As an undergraduate student studying international development, economics and social entrepreneurship; an internship at a government office in the field of international relations was an opportunity I could not pass up. Moreover, as a writer for the 涩里番 daily, I鈥檝e developed a passion for journalistic reporting as well as communications, which went hand in hand with my duties of drafting diplomatic reports and handling social media accounts at the delegation.

I chose this internship because I hadn鈥檛 ever had the opportunity to experience what some concrete 9-5 job truly looked like, and I wanted to finally get a taste of the working life. Moreover, international relations and diplomacy have always interested me as someone who dreams of working for the United Nations. It was also really fulfilling to be able to blend my professional aspirations with my personal passions as I was working on the communications team for a government organization. As an American, it also came naturally to me to gravitate towards an internship in New York, a city I had yet to really discover for myself.

The Qu茅bec Government Office in New York represents the Qu茅bec government in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA, which encompasses 8 states: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia et west Virginia. The goal of the Delegation is to promote trade between Qu茅bec and the States as well as to promote the province鈥檚 cultural values abroad. Since I was part of the Communications and Governmental Affairs department, I primarily helped with the logistics of organizing events such as the Current Trends in Mining Finance Conference (CTME), the National Qu茅bec Day celebration, and creating content for the organization's social media pages. One big project my colleague and I worked on was to create content as well as a posting schedule and an art installation in the offices in honor of the 85^th anniversary of the delegation in July.

I believe my time at 涩里番 provided me with a strong base of theoretical and working knowledge to conduct my internship and other extra-curricular activities I鈥檝e participated in, such as: my employment at the 涩里番 daily, working at the model UNs on the PR team and, my residence in Qu茅bec for the past 3 years, which has enabled me to learn about the province鈥檚 culture and values.

Some of my favorite moments during the internship were the conferences and events I helped organize. I learned a lot about Qu茅bec鈥檚 natural resources, particularly its attractive strategic and critical minerals deposits during the 2025 CTME conference. I was also able to support the Canadian embassy and the Permanent Mission of Canada during Pride Month at the Queens Pride Parade to showcase Quebec鈥檚 relentless support for gender equality and the LGBTQ+ community.

A challenge I experienced as an intern was working around bureaucracy. Going to school, we hear a lot about bureaucracy and the challenges it represents for efficiency and innovation; but during my work at the government office, I experienced, first-hand, just how much bureaucracy slows down processes and forces one to prepare documents, events, and visits months in advance. It was a learning curve at first as I tend to move fast, however, over time, I learned to understand the hierarchy and its reasons for existing, and I learned to work with it rather than get frustrated at it.

I am very grateful for this internship as it has greatly expanded my professional network as well as opened my eyes to potentially working in other Qu茅bec Government Offices around the world or other similar organizations. Moreover, the financial support I received from my award allowed me to afford to travel and live in New York City, one of the most expensive places I鈥檝e ever been to. That said, without this award, I would not have had the opportunity to explore other parts of New York. Therefore, I want to give, once more, a huge thank you to Mrs. Elizabeth Merifield Galindo for making this experience possible. I would not have been able to embark on this life-changing journey without receiving the Dario and Elizabeth Merifield Galindo Internship Award.