Tag Archives: Religion

Isabel Hoffman ’27: My Summer at Corporación Sopeña

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Name: Isabel Hoffman
Class Year: 2027
Majors: Religious Studies, Spanish

Internship Organization: Corporación Sopeña
Internship Title: Intern
Location:  Santiago, Chile

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!

Typical day in the office with my boss Igor!

This summer I have been interning at Corporación Sopeña in Santiago, Chile, where I work in the legal and migration department. Most of my time has been spent researching Chilean immigration law and turning complicated legal information into resources that migrants can actually use. I am creating two guides: one explaining migrants’ rights and another connecting people with legal, healthcare, educational, and other community resources. It has been really rewarding to know that the guides will continue helping people long after my internship ends.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because it combined three things I am passionate about: law, public service, and Spanish. As someone who hopes to attend law school, I wanted the opportunity to gain hands-on legal experience while improving my professional Spanish. I was especially excited to work with an organization whose mission is to help migrants navigate a complicated legal system and build a new life in Chile.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Visiting the Museum of Human Rights with the other interns

I found this internship through Bryn Mawr’s partnership with IES Abroad. I knew I wanted an internship where I could combine my interests in law and Spanish while living abroad, and IES matched me with Corporación Sopeña. It ended up being the perfect fit and gave me the opportunity to gain meaningful legal experience while immersing myself in Chilean culture.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

One thing I didn’t expect to learn was how much discrimination and prejudice many migrants experience in Chile. Through my research and conversations at Corporación Sopeña, I realized that navigating the legal system is only one of the many challenges they face. It made me appreciate how important accessible legal resources and organizations like Sopeña are in helping migrants build a new life.

Working remotely for the first time? What has that experience been like for you?

Visiting the B’hai Temple on my virtual day and working in their coffee shop!

I worked from home one day a week, and it became one of my favorite parts of the internship. I would find a new coffee shop somewhere in Santiago, get my work done there, and then spend the rest of the afternoon exploring a museum or a different neighborhood. It was a really fun way to experience more of the city while still staying on top of my work.

 

Daniella Jacob ’26: My Time in Chile, the Shapeshifting Country 

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Name: Daniella Jacob
Class Year: 2026
Major: Religion, Anthropology
 
Internship Organization:  Watgen SpA
Internship Title:   Acquisitions Intern
Location:  Santiago, Chile
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!  

Goodbye dinner including my friends, host mom, family friends, and a Chilean traditional dish (completos)

As my internship, I have been working at WatGen Solar Energy. Watgen is part of a government initiative called StartUp Chile. StartUp Chile is an organization that gave funding to a handful of Chilean startups that are traillazing the technology sphere. WatGen was one of the special startups that were selected. My responsibilities included reaching out to clients and aquiring new investors. This was a new muscle that this internship helped me develop, since I had never done anything in the technology industry before. To inform potential clients of what they were buying into, I had to fully understand the industry and the economic state of Chile in comparison to other countries. Also, as part of my job, I got to work with local tribal leaders and municipalities to help them understand how our services could be of use to them as well. My favorite part of the internship overall was the work environment. We worked in a building that was in the heart of Santiago. All of the startups sponsored by StartUp Chile worked on one floor. It was incredible to literally work at the same table as the most intelligent, creative, generative minds in the country. Young professionals around me would be working hard for eight hours, refilling their yerba mate cups (a cultural caffeine drink) over and over. I learned a lot from their work ethic and developed close relationships with two of my coworkers just from working alongside each other.
 
Why did you apply for this internship? 

Stargazing trip in the desert with a full view of the Milky Way

When I applied to IES Abroad Santiago, I had felt that my resume was pretty cushioned. I had interned the past two summers and had worked all throughout my three years of college as well. One huge gap I was noticing in my resume is that I lacked any experience abroad. I had witnessed many friends coming back from their time abroad mentioning how it was truly “life-changing.” I had heard that word over and over. So, I decided my last summer in college that I really wanted to go abroad and experience that perspective-shift that others had. There were other locations available for IES but I wanted to prioritize going to a place that was vastly different from the life I was used to. Europe and the global West has cultural differences but share more similarities to the U.S. than differences, arguably. I also wanted to challenge myself to be immersed in a different language, with no option to cop-out and use English. That certainly made my experience more difficult but I left the city having my taxi driver shocked that I knew so much Spanish as an American.
 
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship? 

One challenge I had with my internship in Santiago is that I felt like I was not very useful. WatGen was not actually the internship I had agreed upon when I first came to Santiago. I worked at a nonprofit my first two weeks in Santiago and was working on children’s rights and marketing. I grew dissatisfied in the internship because it resembled work I had done years ago. I felt like it was not helping me make professional progress and wouldn’t offer me new skills. So, I met with the IES staff and discussed new options. That is when I interviewed for WatGen and got chosen as an intern. It was difficult to advocate for myself in this case, knowing that it was late in the recruiting cycle and that my options were limited. It was also difficult to communicate clearly why I was so adamant on getting a switch, especially because the workplace culture in Santiago is not as cut-throat and intense as I was used to in the States. But, once I became insistent on what I knew was right for my professional progress, I was given an opportunity to work in a place that taught me new skills and developed my resume in a field that is increasingly relevant.

Was this internship what you expected it to be? 

My internship took a learning curve to be fully comfortable. The workplace culture in Santiago, as I mentioned before, feels radically different than what I am used to (especially if you are familiar with corporate America). For example, many of the students’ bosses in the program would sometimes not come in office although we were expecting them. Also, bosses may assign tasks with low-context behind the assignment. This was especially a problem I faced: me and my co-worker would be given complex assignments but not quite know the why, how, or who behind our tasks. This taught me to be very direct and assertive in communicating. Instead of wallowing in confusion, I learned to immediately contact my boss with my questions in curiosities so I don’t waste the company’s time or stress myself out. This internship is really what I made of it! Advocating for myself more than usual definitely was a learning curve but it taught me unexpected communication skills that were honestly lacking before this internship. I am grateful for that.  

Interfaith Youth Education and Organizing with Isabelle Stid ’26

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Name: Isabelle Stid
Class Year: 2026
Major: Religion
Minor: Gender and Sexuality Studies 

Internship Organization:  Interfaith Philadelphia
Internship Title:   Youth Initiatives Intern
Location:  Philadelphia, PA
 
What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!  

A student’s “Good Deeds Tree”

This summer, I have had the amazing opportunity to intern at Interfaith Philadelphia, which organizes and facilitates inter-religious dialogue and action across the city. I am the Youth Initiatives Intern and work directly with the director of Youth Initiatives at IP. My main responsibility this summer has been planning and facilitating the Interfaith Youth Neighborhood Mosaic Summer Program. Mosaic is a week-long free program for middle schoolers that helps students foster pride in their own religious and cultural identity, while also forming and promoting community. This year, Interfaith Philadelphia had two Mosaic Programs, one at the Gesu School in North Philly and the other at the Philadelphia Praise Center in South Philly. During the program, students do different art projects, activities, and guest speakers come in to talk about their religious traditions. Most importantly, students complete Interfaith Philadelphia’s “passport to understanding,” which teaches students to Be Curious, Welcome In, Venture Out, Stand Tall, and Stand With. Other than Mosaic, I am also involved in a lot of planning for the upcoming year. I am working on modernizing activity and lesson plans for youth, reaching out to colleges and universities to plan alternative break trips, and helping to plan personalized curriculum for local schools and faith communities.
 
Why did you apply for this internship? 

Interfaith Philadelphia staff outing to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to learn about the Museum’s collections across religious traditions

I first learned about Interfaith Philadelphia because Bryn Mawr partners with them annually for alternative spring break trips. I have gone on two of these trips and absolutely loved learning about religious diversity within Philly. When I learned Interfaith Philadelphia had a summer internship program, I knew I had to apply! I am a religion major and am very involved with Bryn Mawr’s interfaith community, so working at IP seemed like a natural extension of my academic interests and social passions. Moreover, from going on Alternative Break trips, I knew I would love the team and work climate at IP as well.


What has been your favorite part of this internship? 

My favorite part of this internship has been facilitating Mosaic by far. I learned I really love working with kids, and especially while teaching them about religion and interfaith dialogue, which are two subjects I am so passionate about. It was wonderful to see kids come out of their shells, get interested in the material we were learning about, make new friends, and more. A large part of Mosaic is creating a self-portrait throughout the week, and it was amazing to watch students gain confidence in their skills as artists and create pieces that they were proud of. While working with 10+ middle schoolers during the summer can definitely be tiring, I found it to be incredibly worthwhile and so much fun as well.

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience? 

Nouns: Community Diversity Openness  

Adjectives: Fulfilling Educational Impactful