By Titilope Adebambo Adeniyi-Oshin, Global Competency Training Intern
It’s been almost four months since I began my internship at the International Center. Over the course of my internship I have had the opportunity to experience many cultures, meet great people. As a Global Competency Training Intern, I had the opportunity to attend the COPE (Community Orientation Program for Expatriates). This consisted of 8 sessions. I even had the opportunity to be a translator to a French speaker throughout these sessions.
These specific groups consisted of ladies from Japan, Puerto Rico, India, Poland, France and the UK. This program helps the ladies whose spouses are here on STA’s (Short Time Assignments) with various companies, such as Eli Lilly, Cummins and so on. To better acquaint them with the United States, we also provide them with a handbook and help keep their minds at ease. Indirectly we also created a bond.
Thus far, since the end of the session, we have kept in contact and had a reunion with delicious dishes. What stood out to me was that I was not treated as an Intern, but as though I was one of them. Secondly, I understood their concerns and the feeling of being “lost”. This goes to show that the International Center does more than what people understand. We are an ambassador, a window to Indiana.