Asia Society Texas works with high school and university interns each semester through our Regions Bank Young Leaders Internship program. Under this program, we have partnered with various high schools and universities in the Greater Houston area to provide opportunities for students to engage with the broad swath of programs offered by Asia Society and learn more about nonprofit operations. Interns have worked in program development, research and curriculum-writing, outreach efforts, accounting and finance, and more. Through their time with Asia Society Texas, interns learn more about Asian art, history, and culture while gaining direct experience in a professional environment.

We'd like to shine a spotlight on one of our high school interns Melannie Tovares, from Houston Academy for International Studies, who works with our Education and Outreach department.

Learn a little more about Melannie and her internship experience below!

Quick Facts

Name: Melannie Tovares
School: Houston Academy for International Studies
Date of internship: 2021-22 academic year
Favorite project you’ve worked on during your internship: Christmas Parol
Most interesting thing you’ve learned during your internship: The history behind the Taj Mahal

Reflection

Some of the things that I worked on during my internship was Night Market and Winter Wonderland. My favorite part from Night Market was seeing how the space was transformed and the amount of people that showed up was surprising. I remember these two girls who came up to participate in the Unity Wall, and they were so excited that it made me happy knowing that I was a part of the cause, even if indirectly. Another unexpected thing that I learned was that Michelle Reyes (another intern) and I have vastly different tastes in literature, but I found it fun to talk to her about them even if we did read different things, I found a friend and a good co-worker in her.

In the future, I want to earn my masters in either Arthurian literature or mythology because I find those two topics fascinating. This internship helped prepared me for meeting and interacting with new people through Michelle and it also helped me through broadening my worldview. Getting to know and working with Michelle was a challenge because it is hard for me to talk to new people, but she was very welcoming and very engaging and for that I am very thankful since I know that not all people will be like that. She would ask follow-up questions to things that I said, and she would give me advice on how to be friendly with co-workers, whether it be at an internship or at a job. As for worldview, I learned so much about the history of Night Market and more recently, Eid. I had not known what Eid was and these past weeks have been very insightful towards the background/history of Eid and how important it is to a vast majority of people.

Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, and United Airlines, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; AARP, Sterling Turner Foundation, and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Education & Outreach; Syamal and Susmita Poddar, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts & Culture; Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Sponsor of the Japan Series; and Regions Bank, Title Sponsor for the internship program. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and Vinson & Elkins LLP, as well as Friends of Asia Society.

Title Sponsor

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.