Christa McDowell

International Experience Country:
England
Cohort Year:
2019
Home Institution:

Arcadia University

Heinz Programming Area:
Creativity
Bio:
Study Abroad Country: Cohort Year:  Home Institution:  Programming Area: 
International Experience Summary:

Christa spent eight weeks this summer working at a law internship with Bark & Co Solicitors.  Through the CIEE Global Internship Program, Christa acquired an internship with Bark & Co Solicitors which began at the end of June.  Throughout the eight-week internship and program with CIEE, Christa was able to attend meetings with clients, assisting in administrative work in the office, and shadowing the solicitors and barristers in court proceedings. Even though she was put in situations outside of her comfort zone by having to go into prisons to meet with clients and dealing with wardens and police, she still gained hands-on knowledge that she would not have gotten elsewhere.  Through CIEE and different networking programs, she was able to expand her professional network from just inside of the United States to globally.  When she wasn’t in the office, Christa immersed herself in the culture of her host city of London.  Whether it was visiting the Tate Modern to experience art and culture or taking a stroll around the river bank at King’s Cross, she made sure that she made the most out of her opportunity to explore London.  Christa’s internship and time in London not only nurtured her growth professionally, but also personally.  She had to reflect often about how she could do things differently and live her life in a way that was conducive to her growth and beneficial to others in her life.

Community Engagement Experience Summary:

CEE Title: Arcadia Stands Against Sexual Assault

Arcadia Stands Against Sexual Harassment was a 1-Hour Program which discussed the global and local perspectives of sexual harassment.  We discussed what sexual harassment actually is and what the term includes as sub-categories.  We had an interactive multimedia presentation that included music videos, hand-outs, and discussions with the audience.  Our presentation discussed the global and local implications of sexual harassment on various groups of people.  We looked at how sexual harassment affects people of different age groups (specifically college aged people).  We looked at how men and women are affected by sexual harassment based on their age and what country they’re in.  We looked at people of different races and looked at how they are affected by sexual assault.  Lastly, we looked at members of the LGBTQ+ community to see how they were affected by sexual assault.  After looking at individual statistics, we made sure to intersect them as all of the groups we looked at intersect.  For example, race and gender, race and LGBTQ+, age and gender they all intersect.  Our presentation ended with a guest speaker who was the director of public safety at Arcadia, as well as, a self defense demonstration.