International Day of Interns: From Emma... with love
I am Emma Garbo, an Italian girl in her last year of bachelor’s degree in Communication, and from February to June 2022 I was doing an internship at the office of Martina Dlabajová.
But why should a communication student be interested in an internship in the European Parliament? Well, the answer is simple. I have always been attracted by the world of political communication and I took various courses at university that deal with this topic, but I just never got a chance to get a closer look at how things really worked and not even apply what I had learned from books. So once I knew I had the chance to do this internship, I was over the moon and I immediately started preparing for this exciting experience.
I was very worried at first because it was the first time I left my home and moved to another country by myself. Moreover, since I had no previous experience in this field and considering the geopolitical and pandemic situation, I thought I was not brave enough to adapt to the best and, consequently, I could not fully live this experience. Later, when I settled in and understood how things worked, I threw myself in the game, and tried to do my best and learn as much as possible from the tasks I was given.
Talking about my tasks, I could say that they were very varied and it mainly consisted of supporting Martina and the team in their daily work. During these months, I followed the parliamentary work of committee meetings, such as the Special Committee on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, by drafting minutes of the meetings and topical briefings, for example on Artificial Intelligence and the New European Bauhaus initiatives.
In addition, considering Martina’s position as Member of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament, I assisted in following Group and Working groups' meetings and in the development of various initiatives under the flag of the Renew Europe Group and other organizations within the liberal network, such as the “Renew4Youth” Taskforce and the Renew Europe pledge for European Year of Youth 2022, and other events organized by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), the European Liberal Youth organization (LYMEC) and the European Liberal Forum (ELF).
Furthermore, to support Martina’s participation in external conferences, I assisted in preparing briefings and presentation slides, for example for a conference at Scuola di Liberalismo at the Einaudi's Foundation and for radio interviews. Among other things, I helped the team with Italian translations and media monitoring.
I really appreciated that the tasks I was given were different, because in this way I was able to understand what I am really good at (but also what I need to improve:))
Looking back now, I never thought I would have the opportunity to do an internship in the European Parliament. It always seemed like something far away and unattainable. But here I am, 5 months later, grateful that I had this opportunity that allowed me to understand not only in which field I want to continue my studies, but also what my future work might be.
I can therefore say with certainty that the positive aspects have certainly prevailed over the negative ones, for example, I learned to collaborate with a team and I interfaced with a world that until recently I only saw on tv, on social media or read in newspapers. In addition, even outside the workplace, it was a very interesting life experience, thanks to which I met a lot of wonderful people.
In conclusion, I can say that to the question: “Would you advise someone to do an internship in the European Parliament?” My answer would be “Of course!”
It was a unique experience that allowed me to see things in a different perspective and get into an environment where not everyone has a chance to be part. This experience certainly made me more aware of myself, my abilities and others, and for this I can only thank Martina and her team for that.
