I’ve known since I was 15 that I wanted to study international business. I’ve since enrolled in the fantastic Global Management Program at the University of California at Berkeley, and one thing they’ve drilled in is that while they can prepare us as much as possible in the classroom, nothing can beat hands-on experience in terms of the international business world. Taking this advice to heart, I applied for the Study + Internship Program with CEA CAPA in Madrid, and the advice proved correct. Nothing has better prepared me to enter the global workforce than my internship and the internship course in Madrid through CEA CAPA. 

The Internship Itself 

I did my internship with BluSpecs, doing data analysis and user interface/user experience design. In my time there, I was able to work a lot on my analytics skills, doing work that had previously been outside of my wheelhouse but that I am now very well acquainted with. I built a searchable, internal knowledge repository for company documents and a dashboard for a client. I adored my time working with BluSpecs. The work was challenging but fun, and all of my colleagues were so kind! 

It was extremely easy to get to the office by taking the Metro in Madrid! I would pass the time by reading on my Kindle. 

However, data analytics was something I was used to and felt confident in. There was a lot more I needed to learn in order to thrive in a global work environment that I would have struggled to figure out on my own. 

This is a BeReal. that I took while walking to the office from the Metro, and it was always a pretty and short walk. 

The Internship Course 

As an accompaniment to the internship itself, I was enrolled in the asynchronous online International Internship course, which also included an in-person biweekly discussion at the CEA CAPA Center. The course covered cultural competencies that proved crucial in order to navigate my workplace. 

My roommate and I were treated to coffee and tea at the CEA CAPA center before our first discussion for the internship course! 

The most significant example of this was learning about common frames of reference. The self- reflection and guidance intrinsic to the course helped me understand how to navigate my international workplace. My colleagues were from all over: Argentina, Slovakia, Ireland, Peru, and, of course, Spain. Therefore, they had a lot of different cultural norms and frames of reference. The course prompted me to write about and, thus, think about the common frames of reference we all shared. A little bit of observation led me to conclude that, while some workplace minutiae differed, we all shared certain values: hard work, commitment, and generosity. So, that’s what I focused on. I continued to work hard, helped my colleagues whenever and however I could, and I even brought Girl Scout cookies into the office one day! Recognizing these common frames of reference allowed me to fully adapt to the workplace. 

Along with the course, the biweekly discussion helped me navigate the specifics of Spanish cultural norms. Every week, the group of us would meet up and talk about our internships, work through any problems we’re facing, and learn from each other. Everyone had diverse, different career interests — from fashion to tech to finance —, and our internships were geared towards these interests, so it was great to hear the different perspectives and stories from my peers. 

One such cultural norm we discussed was that yawning and stretching in public are considered extremely rude in Spain. Alvaro, the CEA CAPA staff member leading our discussion, warned us about the yawning and stretching, and then we brainstormed what to do when we did feel the need to stretch or yawn. The tactics I ended up employing in my office were getting up to walk to the bathroom and stretching there and walking to get coffee or water. I really enjoyed these discussions, and they allowed me to get advice on any issues or simply observations from my internship. 

Photo 4 Caption: Here I am with my roommate Ruby on a CEA CAPA excursion to Segovia. Ruby did a super cool fashion internship while she was in Madrid! 

The Future 

Looking at my future, I know my time interning and studying in Madrid with CEA CAPA has prepared me well. Simply living abroad is an exercise in adaptability and problem-solving. Additionally, I’m about to begin a career in logistics for an international company, so the ability to to interact and communicate with people of various cultures and backgrounds is going to be crucial. Thanks to my time with CEA CAPA, I am now well-practiced in navigating different cultures, and I am educated on the best methods to approach cultural challenges. 

Another way in which my time interning and studying in Madrid has shaped how I perceive my future is that it has imbued me with a desire to return to Madrid for my MBA and/or career. I loved living in Madrid. I relished being immersed in the Spanish language. Speaking and hearing Spanish became so natural to me in my time in Madrid that it was hard for me to adjust back to speaking English once I came back to the U.S.! Since I was in such an international office, most everyone spoke English, but I was still able to practice my Spanish in a professional setting in certain meetings. 

Additionally, the work-life balance in Spain is unmatched. I’ve had internships both in the US and UK, and Madrid was a breath of fresh air. On Friday’s at BluSpes, the workday (or día laborable as I learned in my Spanish for Business course) ended at 3 pm, making it easy to travel to other places in Europe on the weekend. Spain has a work to live mentality, unlike the U.S., which has a live to work mentality. I loved the idea that work didn’t have to be the focus of all my energy, though I worked hard and enjoyed the work I was doing. I was only working 10 hours a week, so that left me plenty of time to explore the city and the rest of the continent. My colleagues seemed to enjoy life so much more than I’ve witnessed from colleagues in the U.S. and UK, and that made the workplace considerably more enjoyable. 

Lastly, there are other parts of Madrid that I adored. I loved the public transportation. The Metro and buses were always clean and reliable. I loved the food, the markets, the art, the architecture, the history. It was incredible to be just walking down the street or to class and then passing a piece of history that is older than the United States. In fact, every time I went to the CEA CAPA center from my fantastic provided housing, I would pass the Royal Palace of Madrid. Overall, I would love to go back to Madrid because of all I learned and the way everyone lived. 

I’d always cut through the gardens at El Palacio Real in Madrid on my way to the CEA CAPA center. It was always a beautiful walk and never failed to take my breath away!