When I first got on the plane alone headed for Buenos Aires, Argentina I could hardly believe that it was happening. How on Earth was I going to survive in South America alone for 3 months? All of my other friends who were nursing majors had gotten very normal co-ops working in Boston at MGH, Brigham and Women’s, Tufts, Children’s, but not me. I decided to do an International Co-op and as I boarded my flight I definitely questioned whether or not it was the right move. Today, having completed my two different co-op positions, having presented on behalf of the United States Embassy in Buenos Aires, and having traveled around Patagonia I know that I made the right decision.

When I initially heard about the outstanding opportunity to work for one of the world’s top investment banks while still an undergraduate through Northeastern’s co-op program, I was immediately intrigued. After I was offered the sole position in the firm’s London office, I was completely ecstatic. The chance of a lifetime was presented to me, and over the past seven months my eyes were opened to the world of trading equities in a real working environment.

My friends and family could not believe me when I first told them that I would be pursuing my second co-op in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. They asked, “Why on earth would you go there? Can’t you just travel to Europe?” I simply told them I had received an opportunity I could not pass up. This international co-op job was in the form of a volunteership for a successful nonprofit organization in a developing country within South East Asia. It was an ideal position for me as a student pursuing a BA in International Affairs, with a strong interest in economic development and female empowerment. I knew it would be a unique learning experience that would teach me a lot about myself and give me taste of career life in civil society.

This summer, I lived and completed my Coop at the Little Field Home Orphanage in Chigamba Village, Malawi. It was located on a dirt road in a very rural area of Malawi. The orphanage consists of a library/guest building (where I lived), a boy’s dorm, a girl’s dorm, and a kitchen hut. When you hike a nearby hill these buildings stuck out like a sore thumb because all the other houses were clay brick huts with thatch roofs.