Dear Future Intern,

Adventure called to you and you picked up the phone. Props to you for seeking it out and committing thus far. Feel the mix of excitement and nerves. Feel the emotions of packing your apartment up and purchasing your 20+ hour plane ticket. Say your goodbyes with your heart open and bring some photos of those you love most. Embrace every emotion that comes your way with your chin up high, and get on the plane without looking back.

Take any advice you get with a grain of salt, even from me, and try not to expect anything too specific. This is your experience, no one else’s. This being said, I have three main pieces of advice which I will keep concise:

  1. I’m sure this is something you have been told many times leading up to this internship, but it really is an important piece of advice: be as open as you are able to be. Say yes to every new experience you can. Really try to connect with the people in your community and workplace. Eat lunch with a new person every once in a while, go sit in a classroom that you usually don’t spend time in, ask little questions to the teachers that you may not see everyday. Connect with your students, play games with them every chance you get. These are people who are very willing to open up and happy to have you around, but you do need to make the effort yourself. They are used to interns coming and going, and many of them have more reserved or closed off personalities, but show up for them and they will go above and beyond for you.
  2. Something that really helped me through the difficult parts of my internship experience was finding ways of grounding myself. You are on an incredible and vibrant journey that may feel unstable, confusing, lonely, or even boring at times. This can be done in whatever way works best for you, but create a routine of sorts. Find places and people to frequent. Go to classes, cafes, walk around the neighborhood. Creating a sense of familiarity with people and places outside of work will provide you with a sense of stability in a place that otherwise feels foreign.
  3. Finally, learn to trust yourself enough to let go and really dive deep. You will be unsure and have no idea what you should do at times, but try to lean into that feeling and really give something a try. You are the captain of what you achieve at MSRI. This is a real gift that comes with responsibility. Responsibility to take ownership of your work, to follow through on ideas that matter to you, and to ensure that the things you feel are important actually get the time and care they deserve. Jump head first and don’t let the fear of failure stop you.

You have just stepped into something that will undoubtedly shape your growth as a student and most importantly as a person. It is up to you what you do with that growth. You can do your best to fight it. Explain everything you see with your inherited Canadian mindset. But it won’t work. The connections, the beautifully painful stories, and the hundreds of smiling children’s faces will pierce your armour and touch your soul. Get out there and experience all you can.

Your 2025 MSRI intern,

Jaiya