Summer Through the Lenses of Students

Many Middlebury Institute students use their summer break to build on their studies through internships, fellowships and other professional opportunities in their field. It has become a popular tradition for students to place a pin on a world map displayed in the library each spring to show where they are headed for the summer. By the time fall arrives, their pins have become symbols representing fascinating stories of life lessons, experiences and adventures. This summer, some of those stories were captured through the lenses of students who took turns taking over the Middlebury Institute Instagram feed:

Translation and Localization Management student Shuyu Luo MATLM ‘17 (@shuyuluo) spent the summer working at a localization company in Bangkok, Thailand. She picked the map in the library as her first post: “I saw the same board as this one last year when I first visited the library and never imagined being in Bangkok for this summer. But MIIS is so full of magic and here I am.”

International Education Management student Kevin Yochim’s MAIEM ‘16 (@kevinyochim) first photo was of students relaxing in the Pacific Ocean while enjoying a magnificent sunset in Bahía Coco. He spent the summer leading service-learning programs for high school students in Costa Rica and shared images from service projects, adventure trips and more.

Teaching Foreign Language student Amy Liu MATFL ‘17 (@goamyl) started her summer by taking a road trip across the United States from Monterey to New York City, before starting her job as a Chinese language instructor at the Concordia Language Village in Minnesota. In August Liu returned to California to host international students from China.

With her Chinese language focus and specialization in Trade, Investment and Development, International Policy and Development student Annathea Cook MAIPD ‘16 embraced the opportunity to spend the summer in China. She began by participating in the first month-long Middlebury Institute/Middlebury College field research practicum course led by Professors Wei Liang, Jessica Teets and Orion Lewis (see full story). After the course’s completion Cook completed a two-month internship in her field in Shanghai.

International Policy and Development student Patrick Niceforo MAIPD ‘17 (@patnice40) was awarded the coveted U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarship, giving him access to a fully funded overseas language and cultural immersion program to study Korean in South Korea this summer. He is dressed as a Confucian scholar in the class photo he shared.

Translation and Interpretation student Kathy Ou MATI ‘17 (@kathyouououou) and several classmates followed in the decades-long tradition of many Institute faculty, alumni and students working to facilitate communication at the most international of events, the Olympics. Ou shared images from the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she volunteered as an interpreter under the guidance of Institute faculty.