My name is Sandi Khine and I am a current undergraduate student studying Science, Technology, and Society, and East Asian Studies at Stanford University. I spent nine weeks this summer interning with the East Asia Institute on-site in Seoul, and my time here has been wonderfully fulfilling.
Though I did not have a significant background in international relations before my internship, I was able to work on a variety of projects and tasks that helped me become more familiar with not only IR theory, but also the workings of a prestigious think tank. I copy-edited translated reports, attended and summarized webinars for the Asian Democratic Research Network, wrote up reports about global economic forecasts, and supported logistics for the summer EAI Academy program, among many other tasks. Through the EAI Academy program, I heard from experts in politics, economics, and global diplomacy, increasing my academic understanding of IR from a Korean perspective.
I even had the opportunity to engage with the Korean and American college students of the Korean American Student Conference through a discussion session hosted by EAI, and exchanged dialogue with peers on critical topics. My personal research interests were also supported, and I constructed and carried out a small personal research project analyzing transnational economies of labor and migrant labor in South Korea. Day to day, I learned about the complexities of working at a think tank, furthered my own skills, and gained increased understanding of the current, most pressing issues in global politics.
I’m extremely grateful to all of the staff at EAI for this experience and opportunity, to grow personally and professionally in ways that I could not get if I had done a domestic internship in the U.S. The staff have been kind, open, and welcoming, even with my limited Korean language skills, and I am happy to have made friends with the other interns throughout the summer as we shared laughs and created precious memories. I am especially thankful to my direct supervisor, Ms. Won, for her support and grace throughout my internship program. It is because of the people of EAI that I have had such a special summer that I will hold on to as I move forward in my academic and professional career.
I am confident that my experience at EAI will serve me well through the rest of my time at Stanford and beyond, and I look forward to a future that EAI has prepared me well for.
