Internship Brings NWU Students to Thailand

During admissions, colleges and universities tout their connections, and the benefits those contacts reap for enrolled students.

For two Nebraska Wesleyan University students, an internship offered exclusively at NWU provided exactly that.

Award-winning author Brenda Bence selected Senior Kelsey Steinmeyer and Junior Maggie Stanton for an opportunity that would provide them not only with valuable work experience, but would take them more than 8,500 miles from Lincoln.

Bence, the author of the “How YOU™ Are Like Shampoo” book series attended NWU and returned to campus in search of two students to assist with her next book, which was written for college seniors.

The internship, open to students majoring in Communication, Business, Marketing or English attracted the attention of Stanton early on. “I heard about this opportunity over the summer, and at first I didn’t even think about applying because I honestly did not think I would ever have a shot at it. I somehow convinced myself to apply for it anyway, and luckily I ended up being one of the two. Throughout the whole experience I have felt very lucky to have such a unique opportunity to learn from Brenda.”

Steinmeyer, who had previously traveled abroad to Italy with an NWU summer program, remarked she had the travel bug. “I knew that this internship had the possibility of traveling overseas and I was immediately hooked. Also, I know the background and experience that Brenda has had in marketing, and knew that to work for someone as successful as her would be a great opportunity.”

Travel overseas was more than a possibility: the two students spent three weeks in Bangkok, Thailand over winter break contributing to the book’s marketing plan and a number of other projects. Stanton, who had never been abroad, said, “Thailand is definitely a big leap for my first time, but I have no complaints because it was absolutely amazing; an absolute culture shock, but in the best way possible. The culture of Thailand is like nothing I have ever experienced before.”

Their time in Bangkok mixed business and leisure. Steinmeyer explained “We were able to gain knowledge and education while we were in the office, but mix it with the experience that we gained by living internationally. We lived in a very authentic Thai neighborhood and were able to eat at local establishments and interact with the people in the neighborhood on a regular basis.”

Picking a favorite from experiences that included trying new foods, going to the beach, seeing the grand palace and attending a Thai boxing match, Stanton picked out another memory entirely as her favorite.

“Probably the most beautiful thing I saw was the Buddhist temples. I was lucky enough to see a ceremony take place at one of the temples we visited. I guess you could say it was similar to a Christian baptism. It was a very small gathering of just the family and the monk, but anyone who wanted to watch was more than welcome. The room where the ceremony was taking place was gorgeous – what a lucky baby!”