Sabrina Smokler

This past spring of my junior year, I had the opportunity to study abroad in London. It was a surreal experience taking classes such as “London Museums” while being immersed in the very city you’re learning about, and something that I will forever cherish. While the “study” part of study abroad inevitably came to fruition, it only scratched the surface of a whole new horizon of professional, personal, and cultural growth experienced during my time here and while traveling around Europe. Along with taking Museum and Food Culture classes, one of the most valuable experiences of my time in London was an internship at Hyve Group, a global events company, on its digital product team. I was exposed to an entirely new culture and work practice that challenged and pushed me to new limits while also reinforcing my passions and interests in the technological and international landscape. During the internship, I helped develop new software and analyzed a variety of systems, including tracking new business leads and improving data accuracy. Beyond the technical work I learned about and contributed to, moments when I joined meetings with people from around the world, presented research, and conversed with people in the office, where I gained the most cultural exposure and appreciation.

While working on the internship, I was surprised to find how incredibly balanced the work-life culture is and how much community is valued here in London, despite it being such a large and fast-paced city. I always felt a calm, motivating transition to get started on internship work after catching up on the news, or as simple as talking to my supervisor about what I did over the weekend. Additionally, experiencing abroad on a larger scale, I found myself becoming more observant and open-minded the more I interacted with people in new cities. I am reminded of when I was riding the tube and struck up a friendly conversation with a woman after she complimented my shoes. While brief, those experiences helped me understand the importance of the perspective you can gain from small conversations and from stepping out of your comfort zone, a mentality that carried heavily into my abroad experience and the places I traveled to. Experiences both traveling and working have given me a glimpse into what a potential future could look like. Both living abroad permanently and pursuing opportunities that combine technology and global business strategy. I plan to continue learning about data product management while researching how the digital tools we use are constantly changing the world, specifically through social impact. I am interested in exploring how a data-driven culture shapes people’s perceptions, including how it has begun to shape the medical field and healthcare through advances in telehealth technologies.

Receiving the Honors Abroad Grant made my internship possible by supporting my student visa, enabling me to gain new skills and exposure to what a work culture looks like in an international setting, ultimately giving me an invaluable and life-changing experience. It will also continue to shape how I interact with the world and how I see myself growing professionally in the future. Living and working in London undoubtedly strengthened my interest in how technology is shaping global organizations and seeing myself work in product management. Seeing new systems develop within an organization and watching them improve how people communicate, leading to a company’s success, is something I want to continue learning about both on the front-end and back-end. Additionally, during workdays, meeting people from around the world helped me put into perspective how technology isn’t just impacting one team but also an entire international network, highlighting the importance of considering global and economic contexts. Above all, my internship and travel experience helped me gain new skills in professionalism, communication, and collaboration.