UWC Adriatic

ITALY

UWC ADRIATIC

Second Year Postgraduate Student, MPhil Politics: Political Theory, Remote working

Work Projects

Due to the pandemic, instead of going to Italy, I was based at home for a remote internship in Communications, Events and Fundraising at UWC Adriatic. This experience was unique and valuable. During my internship I completed a variety of tasks relating primarily to Communications and helping the college maintain good communication channels with alumni.

I was responsible for conducting research on college alumni, updating contact details, updating occupations, writing alumni profiles for the college website, writing a news piece for the college website, drafting social media posts and drafting some of the college’s communications to alumni regarding current affairs. This involved research skills, working with spreadsheets, having good written communication skills and communicating information in an engaging way.

It was especially rewarding to see some of my pieces up on the website by the time I finished my internship. All of the tasks were very well explained to me by members of the college staff and I was provided with all of the context and resources I needed to complete them to a high standard. I felt very well supported by the team in Italy, we had regular contact via email, messaging, and video calls. Given the time difference, the team were good at giving me some flexibility to choose my working hours. Despite not being there in person, I still felt that I got to learn a lot about the organisation, its mission and its culture through everyone I worked with - thank you!

Daily Life

During the internship I was working from home, but I had regular contact with my host organisation via video calls, emails, and messages. My working days usually started between 8 and 9 (UK time) I would check my emails, write my to do list for the day and take care of

any shorter tasks. We would then usually have a team video call around 9.30 AM to update on any progress made the previous day and set tasks for me to work on over the day ahead.

The team in Italy were very good at striking a balance between giving me clear tasks to do and allowing me the freedom to approach them however I thought was best. I felt encouraged to take initiative, to think of new and interesting ways to do things and to bring this into my work. The team provided regular feedback on my work so I was able to constantly improve.

Some days I would have a short call with the team in the afternoon, and sometimes I would have virtual coffee break with a former Oxford intern who was still working with the college in Italy. These coffees were among the best parts of my internship experience because it made the experience feel less remote and more like an in-person internship. I usually ended my day at around 5.30 PM when I would update the team on my progress for the day via message or email. I had plenty of time to go for jogs or bike rides in my evenings to wind down.

Lasting Impressions

I really enjoyed my online internship with UWC Adriatic and I really enjoyed learning more about the UWC mission. It was clear to me that everyone working at UWC Adriatic is passionate about the work they do and that has left a real lasting impression on me. I had hoped to be able to work abroad when I applied for this internship and this experience has confirmed my desire to do this: I am hopeful that another opportunity will arise for me to work abroad in the future.

I feel that this experience has helped me work on my written communication skills which I hope will be useful going forward. I also feel that this experience helped me get more comfortable with working remotely and using the technologies that are available to make remote working easier. I expect this will be very useful experience as we continue to deal with the pandemic and how it is affecting the world of work. I am still hoping to be able to plan a short visit Duino at some point to see the college and meet the team in person, perhaps I will be able to do this when the situation has settled a bit more!