Mariah talks about her international internship in Valencia and the benefits of diversity.

Having a summer internship at Bounsel gave me numerous opportunities that has not only helped me evolve, but also, helped me realized the benefits of diversity in the workplace. I was not only nervous to be working with a company outside of the U.S., but nervous to be working in a culture and environment I’m not used to being in. Pilar, Marcos, and Madalina mainly helped my transition into the new professional environment go very smoothly. I was surrounded by people who were hard working and as eager to help better the company, which made me feel even more welcome.

Working with Bounsel has helped me gain international business experience, which will benefit me in the long-run. Also, Bounsel allowed me to take a few days off to travel to Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza and Alicante to get the full Spanish summer cultural experience. I really enjoyed my time at Bounsel.

While working for Bounsel I was involved in business development. I was assigned tasks to complete each day to help better achieve the goals of the company. During my first few weeks, my tasks were to create pitches and copys about Bounsel to let people know what we’re all about. I was asked to come up with ideas and proposals to help improve our social media pages and visibility.

Another intern and I teamed up to brainstorm ideas for a marketing campaign for the launching of the website. It was sort of difficult because our ideas were different, but we were able to tweak them and put them together to help design a successful marketing campaign. I think team work is really important to get best results and do a great job.

During my time interning in Spain, I was also able to travel to help increase my cultural experience. I stayed in Valencia but I love exploring new places, so I made the most of the opportunity and visited different cities in this beautiful country. I was able to travel to Madrid, Barcelona, Ibiza and Alicante. It was an amazing experience traveling to each destination and experiencing the different cultures and atmosphere in each place. The Spanish vibe is just amazing! People are so kind and very outgoing, I liked meeting them and asked about Spanish culture and history.

My favorite place to visit was Ibiza because it reminded me of Miami, Florida. The beaches in sunny Valencia, Barcelona and Ibiza were so nice, but I’d have to say Ibiza’s was the most beautiful. It was interesting to see the amount of tourists from all over the world that were in Spain. It was also kind of different not being the dominant culture in the country I was in. I could tell that everyone noticed I was American.

Moreover, I was able to enjoy the Spanish cuisine in each place, which I enjoyed the most. I was able to try all foods that you wouldn’t see in the U.S. and I made sure I tried fruits that I was unknown to before being in Spain. But I recognize that paella is the best dish I tried in the country. It is simply delicious!

All in all, summer interning at Valencia-based startup Bounsel was an amazing experience that allowed me to gain professional experience that I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to in the United States. I will forever cherish the time I spent in Spain, and hopefully will be back in the future!