Grad students experience international internship with Arthrex
- Nina Barbero
- October 29, 2024
- College of Business
- Contributors: Photos submitted
6 – minute read
Emily might be in Paris on Netflix, but a new internship opportunity unique to Florida Gulf Coast University enabled two graduate students named Chloe and Paula to have their own real-world international experiences this summer in Munich, Germany.
Chloe West, a master of business administration candidate, and Paula Beltran, who’s pursuing a master’s in information systems and analytics, are the first Eagles to intern at Arthrex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters in Munich. That’s thanks to a collaboration between FGCU President Aysegul Timur and senior leadership at Arthrex. Headquartered in Naples, Arthrex is a medical device company and global leader in minimally invasive surgery and a longtime FGCU community partner.
“President Timur visited the Arthrex EMEA headquarters in August 2023, and that’s where this whole idea actually started,” says Matthias Enichlmayr, corporate engagement liaison in FGCU’s Lutgert College of Business.
More than 80 students applied for the inaugural internship, he says. West, a Florida native who earned an FGCU bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2023, had wanted to study abroad since her undergraduate days. “I was looking into studying abroad when I started my master’s program, and when I got the email about an internship abroad with Arthrex, I had a very good feeling about it.”
Beltran is no stranger to living abroad. She came to FGCU in 2018 from her home country of Colombia and earned a bachelor’s in supply chain management in 2022. When she saw the Arthrex posting, she recognized an opportunity to experience another culture.
“I love traveling,” Beltran says. “It is very important to get to know different cultures, and it helps a lot of students and professionals to know how things are in other parts of the world.”
She has completed her internship, while West’s ends in December.
Both students worked on projects that helped them make real-world use of their studies. Beltran was a part of the strategic business development team. She performed market analyses and created dashboards to help teammates visualize data.
West is currently supporting project management, including developing a database that will store project results and help employees see what went well and what can be adjusted in the future.
Beltran appreciated the global culture she experienced at Arthrex.
“Since the moment we got there, everything was just amazing,” she says. “We never felt like we were interns. I felt like I was working there for a year with how everything felt so welcome.”
Beltran connected with two Arthrex employees who were also from Colombia, and they held a monthly “Spanish lunch” at the office.
“There are people from all over the world, and they try to get their culture in the company. I knew I was in another country, but at the same time I felt like I was at home,” she says.
Beltran and West had the opportunity to meet with FGCU’s president, who visited the EMEA headquarters this August for a second consecutive year. They gave a presentation attended by Timur, Arthrex founder and president Reinhold Schmieding and other Arthrex employees.
“I definitely didn’t overlook that it was a privilege to be able to have that experience,” West says.
Beltran and West highly recommend the experience and say they would do it all over again if they had the chance. If the program continues, students will be able to find the postings on the FGCU Eagle Career Network by January 2025, according to Enichlmayr.
“I have a different confidence now,” West says. “Being able to live in a different country after not living more than two hours from my hometown, was difficult. But I know that going back to the U.S., starting a job, anything that comes my way, I’m not going to be fearful of it. Because I know I can do it.”
A piece of advice Beltran has for other students considering an international internship is to avoid taking a heavy class load at the same time. She says finishing her school assignments sometimes meant missing out on visiting new places in Germany.
Enichlmayr recommends that students applying for an international internship with Arthrex in Munich prepare themselves for the pros and cons of studying abroad. While international internships are an amazing opportunity to experience a new country and culture, it may not be the best fit for everyone. Some students find it challenging to navigate new cities, overcome language barriers and cultural differences and might miss the comforts of home.
“It is all about your mindset,” he says. “Everything else is manageable. Are you mentally ready to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the adventure that awaits you?”
Beltran and West certainly noticed lifestyle differences between Germany and the United States — or at least Southwest Florida. Instead of a driving commute, she walked to a train station and road the rails to work. In addition to embracing public transportation, she enjoyed exploring urban parks with her new friends — particularly the English Garden, one of the biggest inner-city parks in the world.
Being able to walk everywhere instead of driving was a surprise for West. She now appreciates some of the habits in Germany that initially seemed inconvenient, including walking to get groceries, hanging laundry to dry and cooking on a stovetop without an oven in a small kitchen.
“It’s been a nice slowdown in many ways,” says West. “In the U.S., it’s a bit more fast-paced, but (in Munich) you’re able to appreciate the little things in life and take your time each day.”
That slower pace is one of the lessons she wants to bring back home at the end of the program.
“In Europe on a Sunday, you might get coffee and a pastry with a friend, and you might sit there for three hours. I really enjoy that kind of appreciation for day-to-day life,” West says.