Hyphen the World Virtual Internship in India
Introduction
I’ve always looked into a study abroad experience program ever since I started college. However, Hyphen the World stuck out to me because of its emphasis on community building with your cohort. Most people looking into the study abroad experience often seek out the thrill of being independent from a group. I also would have enjoyed experiencing that feeling of freedom in a non-academic setting. However, I wanted to prioritize creating long lasting relationships with the supervisors and cohort I was working alongside with. Making this virtual internship the best opportunity to build my networking skills.
Discussing my global experience
Hyphen the World is a virtual internship that closely works with community organizations in India. They host multiple weekly gatherings with meaningful workshops to get us more aware of their cultural context of reflection and action. They also provide UWB students an opportunity to complete 4-8 week long projects with different topics based on the student’s preference. With my interest in Mental Health in India, I was chosen to work alongside the Mindpiper organization. They are a team of mental health professionals committed to improving overall well-being for citizens in India via evidence-based approaches. I chose to research and present mental health in India through multiple therapeutic creative modalities. The main activities I wrote about include journaling, doodling, painting and positive psychotherapy onto a mental health diary.
Challenges in a virtual internship
One of the biggest challenges I faced in my global experience was missing the group. Being in a virtual internship, I often had times where I couldn’t attend specific meetings due to personal time conflicts. However, after communicating my situation with my mentor and supervisors in both organizations, they were flexible and patient with me. Thus, our group made progress by adjusting our meeting times to fit everyone’s schedule perfectly.
A different perspective on Mental Health
I was always curious about learning mental health but never focused my studies into that field. Hyphen the World and Mindpiper allowed me to explore this interest without the academic expectations required in a classroom. My background in mental really comes from high school lectures during classes. So, when I had the chance to read research articles and organize my findings to presentable notes, I was fairly surprised. I learned a lot about the mental health support in India and ways to cope during COVID-19. I learned about how Indian traditions and cultural context differ greatly compared to western countries. Sometimes this unfortunately can lead to the stigma of reaching out for support for many instances. However, the country has progressive movements towards mental health support accessibility with the 2017 Mental Healthcare Act. Thanks to the research project, I had enjoyed exploring my interest in Mental Health from a Indian cultural perspective. I planned to use these research skills with my academic journey in college.
Expect the Unexpected
When I initially signed up for this study abroad experience, most of my expectations of the virtual internship were met. Including weekly meetings, working on projects and checking in with my supervisors. However, what I had unexpected was the amount of enthusiasm the whole team had brought to the table. My Hyphen the World supervisors led each workshop with strong reflection-oriented activities and made every weekly meeting an exciting opportunity to learn. My Mindpiper mentor encouraged me with every step along the research process. They made sure I was providing the best quality research I can offer while also being supportive at moments when I couldn’t. The biggest takeaway from this experience is to simply expect the unexpected. That anything could happen in terms of support. These organizations blew my expectations away and I couldn’t be anymore grateful to had met each single member of the team.
