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 university interns, Belén Fajardo, who works with our Education and Outreach department.

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

Quick Facts

Name: Belén Fajardo
School: University of Houston
Date of Internship: Spring 2023
Favorite project you’ve worked on during your internship: My favorite project was working on the Education Project.
Most interesting thing you’ve learned during your internship: During my time at Asia Society, the most interesting thing I have learned is how the Education and Outreach team works to launch the Education Project. It is a very detailed and extensive process that the team goes through in order to ensure the quality of the content and materials they are putting out. Not only this, but I was also given the opportunity to join in on one of their meetings regarding the Education Project, which allowed me to see the negotiation that went on to have this project approved.

Reflection

When I received an email about an internship opportunity from the World Cultures Department at my university, I knew I had to take the chance and apply for it. Since I major in Chinese Studies, it has always been a goal of mine to work in an environment where Asian culture, specifically Chinese, was prevalent and that is exactly what Asia Society is all about. With the help and guidance of the Education and Outreach team, I was able to get a sense of what Asia Society stood for once I started my internship. I could see how important it was for them to promote Asian culture and identity in schools, seeing as how there has been a lack of that, especially in the Texas curriculum.

This brings me to the Education Project that I had a chance to work on during my internship. The first task was to review the webcomics that are part of the project. I have always gravitated more towards webcomics instead of paper books, so I was eager to start. After reading them, I was tasked to design lesson plans for each one based around their main ideas. I had never worked on lesson plans before, so I went in unsure of what they were supposed to look like. It took a lot of reviewing and editing to get them to where they were supposed to be, but I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without help from the Education and Outreach Manager, Phuong Ha.

In the future, I hope to gain more experience to become a professional interpreter/translator. In the majority of courses I took, it was rare for me to work in a group, so there weren't many opportunities for me to collaborate with others over a significant amount of time. At first, I was worried about doing group work during my internship. However, my worries quickly faded as I mostly collaborated with Phuong. Most of what I worked on during my internship was part of the Education Project, where I worked with Phuong to ensure the quality of the program. Whenever I had questions regarding what I was working on, Phuong provided a lot of help and feedback that helped improve my work. I think that my time working with Phuong helped me be more organized with the work I did and less afraid to ask for advice, which is something I felt intimidated to do in a new environment.

While working on the Education Project, the importance of promoting Asian culture and identity in schools in the United States became much more obvious. In my experience as a Texan student, I don’t remember being exposed to much of AAPI history in the United States, so seeing Asia Society work hard to make it part of the Texas curriculum made my time here a lot more rewarding.

Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, 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; Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsor of Education and Outreach; Syamal and Susmita Poddar, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; and 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, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, and Vinson & Elkins LLP, as well as Friends of Asia Society.

Title Sponsor for Internship Program

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.