Photos taken by Avellina Colacurcio (Wellesley College), Student Correspondent for CET Shanghai, Summer 2026
When I was a first year in college, I didn’t have many study abroad aspirations. I knew I wanted to study abroad in a Chinese speaking country, but I wasn’t sure what country or city I was going to study in. Furthermore, I always assumed I would study abroad my junior year fall, like many of my upperclassmen classmates.
However, when I was planning my freshman summer, my Wellesley Chinese teacher floated the idea of summer study abroad, and so I decided to apply to CET Shanghai. The internship component at CET Shanghai stood out to me because of how difficult getting an internship is in the United States. In my eyes it was a controlled way to gain work experience in a professional setting and further improve my Chinese conversational skills.
To be placed at an internship in CET Shanghai, you first rank your top choices, and then you interview for the companies that accept your resume, similar to a traditional application process. The company that I originally interviewed for did not give me an offer, but I ended up matching with a really interesting travel company called Your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom didn’t have a website (that I could find), but while interviewing I learned that they specialize in Shanghai citywalks. However, I still didn’t know what kind of tasks they wanted me to complete. On my first day on the job, I learned that we would be doing social media marketing.
As the days went on, I realized how lucky I got with my internship placement. They feed me twice a day, which I’ve been told is abnormal for a United States work environment, although it is consistent with Chinese work standards. In my Chinese class we learned that coworkers regard each other as family, which explains why my workplace has been so hospitable.
On a normal Tuesday, I arrive at work at one in the afternoon. We usually get a milk tea for the first hour and then discuss the day’s events. Sometimes we go out into the city and take pictures for our social media projects, and other days we work on planning aesthetics for the videos. While other interns in the CET Program may be at office jobs, I am grateful that my internship has taught me that there are also jobs in the world that don’t require you to sit at a desk every hour of the day.
Unfortunately, being an intern means you need to allocate time to go into your workplace and work. In my first two weeks of working, I’ve become very stressed trying to manage my time at school and also at Your Kingdom. While I think being an intern is a valuable experience, I also haven’t been able to explore Shanghai as much as I would’ve if I had more time in my schedule.
I believe that if you are thinking about interning and also studying abroad, you should give yourself a little extra grace and pick a combination of classes that allows you to have space for yourself. However, despite managing my time, I am really enjoying my internship and experience in China so far, and I hope if you are considering a study abroad program you evaluate your personal capacity for academics, work, and desire for exploration. I believe this reflection will help you not just in study abroad, but also in your future career and personal endeavors. 再见！