I think that saying what orgs were particularly helpful is pretty difficult to say. I was looking at the conference from a broader perspective than I normally do (meaning looking outside of just study abroad). I met people from Fulbright, Glipmse magazine, various different universities throughout the country, study abroad offices, international student offices…and really it is much more about the individuals personalities than the particularly helpful. I did find the variety of work that Fulbright did to be quite interesting and not something that I had thought much about before. I have mainly thought about Fulbright as a scholarship to apply to rather than an organization to work for. I think what I liked the most about the conference was trying to be open to all different kinds of IE as each different branch can inform the others. That being said I can’t say I went to any sessions that talked about SEVIS….

I am a PIM student (IELR68) who attended the NAFSA conference in Los Angeles this last May. I have to say it was a really interesting experience as a student.

For one thing I met a lot of students that were in a similar position as me (as in “job hunters”), and I found the variety of ways that people approached that to be quite interesting. There were several students in full business suits walking around trying to meet anyone and everyone they could and hopefully through random conversations end up finding a job. My roommate at the conference (who is not an SIT student) said to me at the end of the conference that she felt she had not made any worthwhile connections. On the other hand, there were a couple of us from SIT who were looking for positions and we took a very different tactic. For one, because of the SIT faculty’s close relationship with NAFSA we were able to meet people through direct introductions given by our professors. That was a major plus and made having an organic conversation with people a lot easier. I personally went to a lot of sessions that I found interesting and through the conversations that often happen post-session was able to meet new and interesting people who have similar interests to my own. Furthermore, I actually learned something useful as a student and as a professional. I found myself inspired with ideas about what I wanted to do for my capstone (though I still haven’t decided!) and with a better idea of where I might want to go within the field in the future. Lastly, the SIT cocktail event was really fun to attend and just confirmed how amazingly diverse and widespread the SIT alumni network is. Being able to identify as someone who is affiliated with SIT is really a wonderful way to connect with people and find new ideas and opportunities.

If you have any other questions for me, let me know!

Thanks!