This is me at a castle in Heidelberg where I was visiting my roommate who was studying abroad in Germany!
Author: Caroline Johnson | Majors: Criminology and Sociology | Semester: Spring 2022
Hi everyone! My name is Caroline Johnson, and I’m double majoring in criminology and sociology in the Fulbright college here at the University of Arkansas. This past semester, I was lucky enough to intern in London, where I worked with an incredible company called Breaking Barriers that helps resettle refugees in the UK.
I worked with an incredible team at Breaking Barriers. I was on the Data Analysis and Impact team, where I was tasked with data analysis projects and completing research on the charity’s strengths and weaknesses. Clients in the program fill out surveys semi-annually, letting us know how they feel the program has impacted their lives. There is a lot of good information in these surveys, specifically that they can show us where we need to improve as a company. My job was to take the hundreds of surveys and compile them, completing one large piece of data analysis and presenting it in front of the entire company. My findings showed which of our programs were hugely successful and which ones needed a little bit of work. I ended up uncovering some very interesting data trends that we didn’t expect, and the organization is going to use those findings going forward!
This job was perfect for me. I found it a little boring and tedious at the beginning, but as I began to spread my wings, I found that I really enjoyed finding new and creative ways of doing analysis that ended up being really impactful. Due to the pandemic, I worked in a hybrid setting, where I was in the office half of the time and working from home for the other half. While I was originally disappointed that I would have to work from home half of the time, it actually turned out perfectly. Working from “home” really meant that I could work from anywhere, which I quickly figured out meant that I could be working from a coffee shop in Ireland just as easily as a coffee shop in England. I used my hybrid days to travel, working in bus stations or airports. I actually finished my final presentation while on a train in Germany! The flexibility that the internship provided allowed me to go to places like Amsterdam, Brighton, and Frankfurt! I was originally worried that COVID would throw a wrench in my plans to travel, but I was able to go to most of the places I wanted to go to, albeit with LOTS of testing. Everything went perfectly- with the slight exception of me contracting COVID on the plane home from Ireland. Life happens!
As I previously stated, I am double majoring in criminology and sociology, so while working in a non-profit for refugees was perfect, doing data analysis was a little out of my comfort zone. The main thing that I learned about my field was that there are so many different skills needed to make a charity run. While the company certainly had hands on advisors helping refugees directly, it also had an employment team, a HR team, a data analysis team, and a marketing team. You can still work at a non-profit and help people for a living without a sociology or criminology degree. A marketing degree or a finance degree can be just as useful in getting you hired to a charity.
As for my future, I am planning to finish up my undergrad (only one more semester!) and start applying for grad schools. I am graduating this December, and traditionally grad school starts in the fall, so right now I am looking at an eight-month gap to fill. Crossing my fingers that another European adventure is in my future!