Maria Paula Bermudez Quintana
Colombia

As we strive to adjust to an evolving world, it is imperative to learn how we can impact our surroundings in positive and enlightening ways. After graduating with a Master’s of Science in Communication Studies at Texas Christian University (TCU), I decided to embark in what has been an unforgettable experience.

It has been both an honor and a joy to work with the United Nations Environmental Programme, especially within the Region of North America (RONA). As the Communications Intern, I have been fully immersed in wonderful projects such as World Environment Day (WED), which was hosted this past 5th of June in Toronto, Canada. I work directly under RONA’s Senior Programme Officer, Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, and Communications Assistant, Andrea DiPaola. They have taught me invaluable skills, such as planning and organizing big events, writing press releases and speeches, and how to work with the media/newspapers in both the United States and Canada.

Overall, I am pleased to say that my experience in this office has been energizing, stimulating, and enrichful. I am forever grateful to UNEP RONA for granting me this wonderful opportunity, for allowing me to appreciate and care for our planet in a more genuine way and for teaching me multiple ways in which we can improve our environment, hence, becoming part of the needed change.

Finally, my internship will end this August 2011, and I am lucky to say that I will finally get to go home after six great years in the United States. I will be working at a regional sea port (Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena) in Colombia.