ASU Summer Global Internship in Barcelona

Zachary Krause Start Date: Jan 22, 2025 - End Date: May 21, 2025
  • Barcelona, Spain

My Travel Story

by: Zachary Krause Start Date: Jan 22, 2025 - End Date: May 21, 2025
Your finances can support my participation in the ASU Summer Global Internship in Barcelona through the Global Education Office. I’m passionate about this experience because it encapsulates the interdisciplinary drive I have exhibited throughout my time at ASU and serves as a jump pad for my future career goals. As a Fulton student majoring in civil engineering with a concentration in sustainable engineering, a minor in Spanish, and a certificate in international business studies, I curated my path at ASU to begin developing the skills that I believe are necessary to develop relationships with international communities and make a positive global impact. I believe that it is important to maintain a global consciousness on issues and want to lead the effort to reach our Sustainable Development Goals across the world. Through this lens, my fire for sustainable engineering matters to me because I believe that we are called to be stewards of this world, love our neighbors, and stand up for those who lack the voice to advocate for themselves.

I have many expected outcomes for the Barcelona Summer Global Internship Program. First, I believe that immersion is the best way to learn languages and culture. There would be nothing more rewarding than to live out the Spanish culture I have learned so much about in textbooks and to practice communicating in the language in a powerful way. I believe this experience will not only embolden my journey and understanding of international markets but motivate others to pursue opportunities that can connect them to serving international communities. Through the internship experience and international business summer course load I will absorb the dynamic of foreign business and learn how to apply these technical skills to sustainable engineering and the development of future cities. Throughout my time there I plan to research Spain’s strategies on green building design, water management, renewable energy integration, life-cycle assessment, architecture, urban planning, and transportation systems. Additionally, the internship will encourage a future transition to working internationally and provide opportunities to network with a variety of companies and organizations with similar goals and core values. Lastly, I have never had the opportunity to engage in this environment and have always wanted to. Since adding the minor, I searched for endless ways to study abroad but have yielded the opportunity because my role on campus as a Community Assistant in Tooker, an officer in ASCE, involvement in countless other extracurricular activities or engineering internships, and passion for an authentic ASU experience with my friends kept me here. However, the door of opportunity has finally opened! I plan to maximize my learning experience by traveling around the country, engaging with locals, touring museums and cathedrals and other historical landmarks, asking lots of questions, and having a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try new and exciting things.

Your support would have an extraordinary impact on my future. I believe that this opportunity will open doors in my career and offer me a new perspective of the world that I wish to take back to the states. I grew up in Mesa, Arizona in a community surrounding by Spanish speakers and always searched for ways to better understand and connect with them. I believe that in our world today, it is more important than ever to learn how to connect with people different than you, expand your image of “comfortability”, and work together to unite nations.
  • Barcelona, Spain