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NEWS
236
KU's Senate issues of diversity and equity in student government
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ARTS & CULTURE
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How a Lawrence author became a NYT bestseller
SPORTS
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Kansas football turning the tide on its future
MONDAY, FEB. 06, 2017 | VOLUME 133 ISSUE 07
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Home-court winning streak comes to an end
JORDAN WOLE
TRANSLATING STUDY ABROAD INTO A CAREER
DYLAN JACOBS
Universidad de Costa Rica Program,
Spring 2015
Although I was interested in studying abroad, I had not seriously considered it because of my double major. That changed when I visited the Study Abroad Info Center and left with brochures and lots of encouragement to look into the Grupo de Kansas program at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR). After learning more about the program, I knew it would improve not only my ability to speak, write, and understand Spanish, but would also provide growth in my understanding of the culture and an opportunity to see a part of the world I had never visited before.
During my seven months abroad, I was able to not only study at a well-known and prestigious Central American university, but also to travel, meet friends from around the world, immerse myself in the Costa Rican culture, and practice my Spanish on a daily basis. I lived in a neighborhood within walking distance to the university, and got to be a part of a family-complete with attending birthday parties, having cookouts, and just lounging around talking with my host mom and her family.
UCR offered a new educational environment where I learned to adjust to the different academic expectations of students and distinct administrative processes. This helped me become more adaptable, both in school and in everyday life. I also learned to
ask questions and make the most out of each learning opportunity. As part of a group of over 50 exchange students, representing over 10 countries, I made a lot of great friends and learned about more than just Costa Rican culture
I was able to travel to many amazing places throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. I sunk my toes in the sand of beautiful beaches, stood at the edge of active volcanoes, and fell asleep in countless hammocks. Traveling within a region I was not familiar with taught me to be more prepared, and I learned that taking the time to slow down and explore is the best way to appreciate a place.
Upon my return, I wanted to find a summer internship in advertising, public relations, or a related field, and I hoped to incorporate my Spanish in some capacity. I interviewed at a number of companies, but was most excited about an internship position at Driscoll's, the world's largest provider of fresh berries. As a company with a large number of Spanish-speaking employees, the chosen intern would use Spanish daily to write, edit, and translate articles and publications for the company's internal communication channels. All three of my Driscoll's interviews included speaking in Spanish, and I had to write in Spanish about my favorite book during my formal interview. After the interview process, I was
honored when I was offered the internship. My time in Costa Rica helped immensely in making me the most qualified candidate.
Driscoll's operates across the United States, Mexico, Chile Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, China and Australia. As the first ever intern for the Global Internal Communications department at Driscoll's, my job responsibilities included composing, translating reviewing and distributing communications through Driscoll's internal communications channels: email, intranet, video platform and print publication. Over 60% of Driscoll's employees speak Spanish, meaning everything is translated, both written and video. I also worked on ad-hoc translation projects and reviewing analytics of the distribution channels.
Although Driscoll's is based out of Watsonville, California I worked out of the Oathe Kansas, office with my boss, Patty who is originally from Bogotá Colombia. Over the summer, Driscoll's sent me on a business trip to California, where I spent two days in Watsonville working and touring the facilities, and three days in Redding, California training nursery employees on how to use our intranet. During my time at Driscoll's headquarters I participated in a lunch with Driscoll's Global Leadership Team which includes three foreignborn executives: Kevin Murphy,
CEO (from South Africa), Sanjeev Tandon, CFO (from India), and Soren Bjorn, Executive Vice President of Driscoll's of the Americas (from Denmark).
After the summer ended, Driscoll's asked me to continue as a contracted employee during the school year to continue my projects. I regularly interact with our internal communications colleagues in Mexico and Chile, who we collaborate with on company-wide communications and their translations, and I communicate in both Spanish and English with my boss on a daily basis. I would not have been able to land this internship, or be as successful in it, without my study abroad experience.
view that the School of Education realized a few years ago that it was not doing enough to address these issues and developed a diversity agenda.
Ginsberg said he felt Kamatuka was the right person for the job given his work and experience with educational opportunity programs.
"He has love and passion for the School of Education and for the University," Ginsberg said.
Kamatuka, who also works as the director of the Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, was born in Nambia, lived as a refugee in Zambia, and finally arrived in Hillsboro, Kansas,
Now, he wants to do the same for students. He said the main reason he accepted the position was because he does not want to see the University as an unwelcoming place for students.
"I want to meet with my faculty and staff to talk about these issues on a public forum, so we can come up with how to make every student that comes to the School of Education feel valued, that we are there for every student, every staff and every faculty," he said.
"There were people who believed in me, who gave me opportunities for me to be successful," he said.
Kamatuka said he knows that, to fulfill his goals, it will require effort from both the faculty and staff.
starting his two-year commitment as executive director, Ginsberg said he trusts he will do a great job and hopes that Kamatuka will continue advising the school on these issues.
"I believe in the goodness of all of us," he said. "We need to find a way to bring it out."
"He's a national leader on work on equity, diversity, and inclusion," Ginsberg said. "We hope to have his immediate support and long-term guidance."
P O O P :
DARBY VANHOUTAN
@darbvvanhoutan
Students can now quickly and easily keep up with the actions of President Donald Trump, thanks in part to the work of a student here at the University.
"If you're a student, an activist, or just a citizen that wants to keep up to date on a lot of things that are changing very quickly, this is the tool for you," P.h.D. student Peter Federman said.
The tool that Federman
is referring to is Trump Track, an application he helped develop. The app is downloadable on smartphones and has a desktop version.
The application's creator, Sam Altman, had the idea for the app after seeing President Trump's "Contract with the American Voter."
"The idea was that we saw a lot of promises being made and we thought that one thing we could do with our expertise and reach and tools is that we have
is track those promises," Federman said.
Along with Federman, Altman recruited Greg Koberger of developer service ReadMe.io and Alec Baum, former organizer for Hillary Clinton's campaign.
"I obviously have my own political predispositions; we all do," said Baum. "I'm especially eager to create a resource that is useful for activists as well as people looking
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