Student Stories

MAIS students successful in co-op searches with distinguished organizations

May 27, 2021
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SFU’s Master’s in International Studies (MAIS) equips students with the knowledge and skills required to make meaningful impacts in today’s world. As students pursue their intellectual passions and advance their career trajectories, career development is a key component of our academic programming.

The MAIS program integrates career development in the MAIS core courses, and offers optional workshops and advising. Select assignments in the core courses incorporate professional skills development and career connections, through activities like policy analysis training and students’ interviews with practitioners. This summer term, MAIS students have done extremely well securing co-op positions and grants, and have been competitive in highly sought after roles.

Read about their roles, and hear from the students in their own words: 

Diana Cardenas Pinzon

Research Intern, Open Media via the Mitacs Accelerate Program

"What excites me most about this program is its two components, part-time internship and part-time research project. In this way, it allows me to put into practice academic knowledge applied to a research project, and at the same time to be able to exercise professional skills through the general tasks of the internship. Therefore, learning will be twofold as a professional and as a researcher. I am also excited to know that the results of this project can have a significant impact on the proposal of laws and regulations regarding the use of digital platforms and their impact on citizens."

Alessandra Corno

Assistant to Cultural, Academic and Community Affairs, Mexican Consulate in Vancouver

"I am mostly excited to finally dive into the cultural and community aspect of International Relations, which tends to be forgotten or not given as much importance to. I also am thriving to learning about the Consulate's role in Academics: on how they create the partnerships between Mexican and Canadian universities."

Rachel Jang

Junior Policy Analyst, Natural Resources Canada

"All the professors in the MAIS program do a great job training you to write in different styles. I'm really grateful that they often edit your work line by line to show you how you can write more clearly and concisely. It has really come in handy with all the briefing notes and summaries I write!"

Nikita Larenjeira

Policy Analyst, BC Ministry of Education, Education Policy Branch

Michelle Nguyen

Student Economist/Policy Analyst, Western Diversification Canada

"I am excited to gain a deeper understanding of the social, political and economic priorities of the federal government that are specific to BC. I’m also hoping to learn more about the process decision-makers take to choose which policies should be pursued, developed and implemented."