Stories of the Underqualified Intern: Part II

Some of you may be wondering what exactly I am doing in Prague besides taking Instagram pictures of beautiful parks, scenic beer gardens, and entertaining games of Frisbee.

Well most of the time I am either attending classes in a 13th century fortress, or walking up the hill to the 13th century fortress. But lately I have been expanding my horizons. I tried a new gelato place on Monday. I tried a new burger recipe on Tuesday. I gave some directions to a lost couple in Spanish on Wednesday. I sat in a palace with some European intellectuals on Thursday. I got retweeted by the US Embassy on Friday.

(Czech out the Palace^^)

Wait. What.

Honestly, pinch me because I need to be reminded that this is my life. Yes walking up to a 13th century fortress for class is surreal but sitting in a palace with a former UN Security Council representative, that is where my dreams come true.

I recently took an internship position with a public research institute here in Prague. When I took the job as the PR intern for an academic institution I thought that I would be in charge of passing out pamphlets about global warming or sharpening Ticonderoga pencils with our logo. I had no idea that my casual duties would include summarizing comments of the US Embassy Director for the Twitter-sphere and getting to listen to journalists that risk their lives everyday to evoke change.

As my institution hosted an International Symposium this past week, I was working packed 12 hour days. Many would complain about “boring” days of listening to people talk but I’m not. Why? Well mainly because I’m a nerd.

But I remember trying to explain my decision to go abroad to a dear friend and claiming that, “I just feel stale: intellectually, physically, spiritually. I need to be inspired again.”

Between the bubbles of the carbonated Mattoni water bursting on my tongue and the passion flowing from the speakers’ souls, I felt inspired. I don’t know how I was deemed qualified for this position… but I’m not asking any questions.