Hello, my name is Goni Ben Gera, a Global Affairs and Policy student at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei university. I had the great pleasure of interning at the East Asia Institute for two months in the summer of 2021. Although we had to work from home most of the time, my time spent at EAI was very valuable to me.

Interning at EAI, I got to see firsthand, and for the first time, the inner workings of a think tank. While EAI manages many projects, I mostly dealt with work related to the ‘Asian Democracy Research Network (ADRN)’. With great support and guidance from our intern team leader, Jun Juhyun, I got to participate in the process of creating high quality publications through carrying out background research, compiling relevant resources, and reviewing, styling, and editing articles. In addition, I performed some tasks for other projects, such as research for EAI’s Strengthening Civil Society in Myanmar program.

During my internship I had the great opportunity to improve my writing and editing skills, as well as expand my knowledge of current issues that are of great importance to me as a political science major. Through the multiple publications I read, the webinar I attended, and through observing and learning from EAI staff, I benefitted greatly from these two months. It has been a great working as well as research experience, which I believe will be of great use moving forward with my career.

I would like to thank all the staff at EAI, and specifically our team leader Jun Juhyun, for the continuous support they have offered us throughout the internship, making it a great learning experience.