Q: How did you learn about the Japan Society's internship program?
JL: I learned about the organization and their internship program by going to the EAS Internship Info section.
Q: How did you apply to the Japan Society?
JL: Japan Society has a page on their website where they list internship opportunities along with information on what materials they want to see in an application, what skills they expect, and who to email to apply. I applied for the Talks+ department by submitting my resume and a cv, and they got back to me in about 3 weeks.
Q: What are some skills you've gained through your internship?
JL: The work I did during my year there can be broken into three categories: social media, event research, and event assistance. With social media it was a lot of marketing and I made a lot of original content for Instagram so I also worked on graphic design skills. Event research improved my research skills; I would research trending topics related to Japan and people in the NYC area involved with them. Event assistance involved a lot of customer service.
Q: What are the challenges of balancing an internship with your studies?
JL: I was lucky to have very flexible hours that fit my class schedule, but the office was still about 30 minutes away from campus, and on event nights I might not get home until 9:30pm. Most events are on weekdays so if I didn't plan ahead and do whatever work I had in advance it could interfere with that.
Q: What is your most memorable moment at the Japan Society?
JL: I was at Japan society for almost a full year so I have a lot of memories, but the most memorable one is of my second day of work. I had just started my internship and there was already an event. It was the annual sake tasting and it was a whirlwind of action. I didn't stop pouring sake the entire evening, but it was a lot of fun meeting and helping the brewers and practicing my Japanese.