Among student opportunities at Rhodes are summer international internships, and two juniors have been selected to receive competitive U.S. Department of Commerce internships. Erin Bailey, a commerce and business major from Richmond, VA, will spend this summer working in Bangkok, Thailand. John Pilon, an economics major from Houston, TX, will work in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Bailey, the 2016 recipient of the Morelle Legg International Internship for Women, is pursuing minors in Asian Studies and German, and she has strong interests in market analysis and international trade. As a social media marketing intern for FedEx Services, she worked with more than 40 small businesses in major cities on a national social media advertising campaign. She has studied abroad before in Seoul, South Korea.
Within the Bangkok office, Bailey will work for the commercial services division, which acts as an expediter and facilitator for American businesses attempting to break into the Thai market. During her ten-week internship, she also will travel to Cambodia and Laos. Bailey’s future goals include living and working in East Asia, and says that this position is the ideal next step for her career. “My time in Thailand will definitely be a period of self-discovery. I’ll be working 40 hours a week in a serious job with real responsibilities, but I’ll also be figuring out how to live, commute, and thrive in a very foreign environment by myself. I couldn’t be more excited!”
The mission of the Department of Commerce Internship Program is to introduce students to opportunities in the federal government and empower them to become engaged citizens with global perspectives. Interns gain unique experience though their placement in one of several offices.
Pilon, this year’s recipient of the Wasfy B. Iskander International Internship in Economics and Business Administration, is proficient in Mandarin Chinese, and his interests are focused on the effects of Asian Pacific rising economies on their neighboring countries. In the summer of 2015, he had the opportunity to study in Shanghai, China, as part of a The Alliance for Global Education, which enrolls undergraduate students in China and India program centers maintaining high academic standards.
Pilon enjoys talking with people about their world experiences and views and says being selected as an intern for the U.S. Department of Commerce is an honor. “I am being assigned to the commercial section in Kaohsiung in which I will be assisting with research for major market opportunity reports and aiding in conducting trade-related events such as promoting trade between the U.S. and Taiwan.”
After graduating from Rhodes, Pilon plans to apply for graduate school in a Mandarin speaking country and eventually enter the import/export sector, spending a significant period of his life living in Asian Pacific.
Pilon is a graduate of Logos Preparatory Academy in Texas, and Bailey is a graduate of Mills Godwin Public High School in Virginia.