When I first applied for this internship in the Communications Department of RWI, I didn’t think I stood a chance. I had previously applied for an internship with RWI at the beginning of the year, and the fact that so many people had applied on that occasion made me doubtful of a different outcome this time around. However, I applied anyway.
Writing has always been a passion of mine. Even though I never chose it as a career path, it’s something I’ve been working on since I was very young. So I thought this internship was a very good chance to improve my skills on paper. Or on computer. Or on any other device.
When I got it, I was incredibly motivated to start. However, all that excitement flew away when I discovered what the internship was really about… Just kidding!
Through this internship, I have had the chance to improve my writing skills as I intended to. Not only did I manage to work on that, but I also learnt how to use certain social media platforms, computer programs, and other technology that – in some cases – I didn’t even know existed. Podcasts, Linked-in, Instagram…
Okay I know what you might be thinking. But for a person like me, whose only connection with the outside world is Facebook, this was a great challenge. I must confess, this was also a surprise for my boss when he found out.
But what I really loved about this internship was the amount of interesting people that I had the chance to interview and meet. From independent experts working for the Human Rights Council to former judges of international criminal tribunals. All of these interviews have given me a new perspective on the applicability of human rights. Combined with the International Human Rights Law Master’s Program at Lund University that I am currently enrolled in, these experiences have helped me to further understand the usefulness and interrelated nature of these rights.
A couple of weeks away until the end of this experience, I look back and realize that this internship has revitalized my interest in writing on the issues that need to be spoken about the most: inequality, discrimination, and human rights violations all over the World.
Patricia Barrenechea is an intern at the Communications Department of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. She is also currently studying a LLM in International Human Rights Law at Lund University. Her main interests are gender and women’s rights.