The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 105 expense. Fortunately the consulate staff recommended an excellent doctor, and I quickly recovered from an ear infection and paid the out-of-pocket cost to treat it. Amore serious medical emergency, how- ever, would have been far more expensive. Including the unforeseenmedical expense, the total cost of the internship was about $6,000. That included trans- Atlantic airfare, rent and utilities, food and transportation around Düsseldorf. Although it was clear when I applied that this was an unpaid internship, only later did I think to ask the question of what value we as interns would receive for our money. Early on I learned that this particular consulate had been downsized several years before, losing many responsibilities to the consulate general in Frankfurt. The workload, therefore, had little excess for unpaid interns to pick up. While I usually had a few daily tasks (though I desired more), there were too many days when I had none. When the second intern arrived a month later, my already light workload was halved. Idle hands was not what the internship program touted, and it wasn’t what we had signed up and “paid” for. Although our work was highly regarded, and we were qualified, it was apparent that the consulate had barely enough real work for one intern, much less for two. Not challenging interns, who shoul- der significant personal costs to get a taste of being in the Foreign Service, with meaningful work and failing to use their full potential is a serious problem for an internship program. If my experience is any indication, the program could benefit from a review to determine if both the intern and the State Department are getting the most out of it. While I encourage others to consider this program, many may not be capable of personally funding such an expensive endeavor. To avoid disappointing intern- ship experiences in the future, especially in light of the considerable personal expense involved, there should be a re- evaluation, or at least a clarification, of what the program’s value and goals are to the intern. Furthermore, the program could ben- efit from having a uniform support system to help interns with such things as finding living quarters; and the Foreign Service posts, for their part, could benefit from guidance on how to maximize the intern- ship experience. Inmy case, despite an immensely welcoming staff, I felt unfulfilled—both as an intern and as a consulate contribu- tor. Hopefully future modifications will strengthen the existing program and ensure the best-possible intern experience every time. Overall, however, I am glad that I interned in Düsseldorf. It was my first work experience, and it convinced me to pursue a Foreign Service career. n TOP: U.S. Consulate General Düsseldorf interns pose at a trade fair with two “Statues of Liberty.”William Robertson is second from the left; his fellow intern, Sam Yancho, is in the middle; and Lizette Bannies, the U.S. Commercial Service’s German intern, is at right. LOWER LEFT: A debate on the proposed Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership at the Deutsche-Welle building in Bonn in March featured (from left) Düsseldorf Consul-General Stephen A. Hubler; Stefan Engstfeld, a Green Party member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament; Deutsche-Welle Moderator Jule Reimer; and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice president of the European Parliament. LOWER RIGHT: A soccer match in Gelsenkirchen. PHOTOSCOURTESYOFWILLIAMROBERTSON