Fundación Escuela Latinoamericana de Redes : an opportunity to develop my skills organizing an international event

Abstract

The internship is one of the most important requirements to obtain the degree in Modern Languages at the University of Los Andes (ULA). This period is not only a step toward obtaining the degree, but also a way of putting into practice some of the knowledge acquired during the academic formation. The internship is the first step of a student toward future professional life. The following report is the concluding element of my internship in an International Organization: the “Escuela Latinoamericana de Redes” (EsLaRed). The EsLaRed’s objective is to offer workshops related to telecommunications, and promote the training of human resources and research in that area. For this reason, every year EsLaRed organizes a series of workshops targeted toward young professionals. This annual event is called WALC (Workshops to Latin American and the Caribbean). My internship consisted in working as a member of the Organizing Committee of WALC 2008. This report describes all the events that occurred throughout the three months of my internship in this wonderful organization. The report is divided in five main sections; the first one is the Profile of the Host Institution, which presents all the basic information about EsLaRed Foundation. This part includes two flowcharts that illustrate the structural organization of the institution and the structural organization of the Organizing Committee of WALC 2008. The second part is the Nature of the Internship; this section offers a detailed list of all the tasks and activities that I carried out during the period of the internship. The third part, and I think the most important in the whole report, is the Reflection Essay which describes all the feelings and emotions that I went through during the three months of work at the host institution. The fourth section provides the Conclusions, where I present an evaluation of my internship, the experience that I gained, and how this experience brought important changes to my life. Finally, in the last section, I provide some Recommendations to the School of Modern Languages and to the EsLaRed Foundation in order to contribute to a better performance of their functions in the future.