[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Arbour_Ingram.jpg” caption=”John McCallum, pictured second from left, with fellow McMaster interns Monica Rettig and Leslie McBeth, with Joseph Ingram (special representative of the World Bank to the UN and WTO), left, and Louise Arbour (UN high commissioner for human rights) at the Canadian Mission in Geneva.”]As one of six McMaster humanities students chosen to complete a paid internship last year at Franciscans International (FI), a UN-accredited Human Rights organization in Geneva, Switzerland, Jonathan McCallum is eager to share his knowledge and experience with others. McCallum and some of his fellow students turned international humanitarians will present information, photos, and even some samples of their work produced for FI at an information session on Wednesday, Nov. 30.

Filling the exciting role of graphic designer and photographer in Geneva gave McCallum a unique brand of real experience unlike anything available in the classroom setting. The luxury to devote himself wholeheartedly to one project at a time, something most students managing a full course load do not have, was one of McCallums favorite aspects of the internship, allowing him to show what he was capable of creatively. Among the many tangible benefits of his internship, he says, are a noticeable improvement in the quality and professionalism of the work he is now producing during his final year in multimedia and communication studies as well as an increased fluency in French.

Of course, the trip wasnt all work: traveling across Europe and experiencing a whole new level of cultural diversity has left McCallum hungry for more, hoping to improve his French further and to someday learn Italian and Spanish.

Emphasizing the happy mix between great work experience and life-altering cultural adventures, McCallum hopes all prospective humanities interns will come and make the most of the Q&A session, as well as those just interested in finding out about what it was like to work for a year in a truly international setting.

The Geneva Information Session will take place Wednesday November 30 at 1:30 p.m., in Togo Salmon Hall Rm. 201.