A Remote Internship Offers Next Best Thing to Studying Abroad

in Global Matters, Global Profiles
October 7th, 2021

Will Andronico Interns with an Irish Magazine during Pandemic-Related Pause on In-Country Programming  

Will Andronico (COM ’22) has always been interested in the timeless art of storytelling and plans to pursue a career in this area. Although he’s unsure of his exact path, as a Journalism and Film & TV double major, Andronico appreciates the critical role that a free press plays in a democratic society.

“What draws me to the field is that it’s a creative field but it is grounded in truth and fact,” he says. “I love media, film, and movies. The content that I like to make is based off of fact or research or data and telling people something they may not know.”

In spring 2021, he jumped at the opportunity to apply what he’s been learning in BU’s College of Communication through an international academic internship with BU Study Abroad’s Dublin Internship Program. Although his internship had to be completed remotely because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Andronico found it worthwhile and was able to add to his growing portfolio of work. Interning as a writer for the Irish online magazine Consumer Choice, he was published several times for feature stories on various topics.

“My first piece was about electric scooters and new legislation in Ireland for the e-scooters,” he says. “I also did a story on what a ‘new normal’ could look like post-COVID this summer as vaccines are distributed in Ireland.”

Working remotely, Andronico had to conduct secondary research online and then gather material from credible sources, such as the Mayo Clinic, and analyze information for his audience.

“My editors were great in guiding my process and helping me build stories that made sense for their Irish readers,” he says. “What I found interesting were the linguistic differences in writing style as well.”

Going into the remote academic internship, Andronico wanted to do writing that would have an impact of some sort. “Whether informing people about a topic or pushing people to do something – I think I was able to do that through this internship,” he says while reflecting on the opportunity.

On the topic of studying abroad and the importance of learning from different cultures and worldviews, Andronico says, “There’s so much out there to learn from people who aren’t in your circles. You might learn from someone in your friend circle who lives in or is from a different country, but it cannot beat going and learning in the country itself. It’s about getting a different perspective on life and getting a different perspective on politics or a number of different things. That idea of learning what’s different makes going abroad so interesting.”

Because the pandemic thwarted Andronico’s plans to immerse himself in Ireland for this internship, he encourages students to plan ahead for studying abroad. “You never know when the chance will be there,” he says. “Build in the time to go abroad and experience something new.”

The Dublin Internship Program, among others, will be running in-person this fall 2021 and during spring 2022.