AGS Student Interns with OECD, Shares Experience and Advice

Myron Manns is a second year master’s student at AGS and a professional writer from Flint, Michigan. He recounts the events of his first year as a graduate student in Paris briefly below.

"Arriving in September of 2015, I was excited to start the Master in International Relations and Diplomacy program in what I considered to be the perfect place to study it, Paris, France. Paris beckons the world’s brightest from all corners of the globe seeking higher education for several reasons, among those being the history of its university system, access to original documentation and international appeal as the center of diplomacy. To study here is to study mere meters away from where such greats as Marie Curie, Thomas Aquinas and Voltaire studied.

I made it a point to not only study here but to gain experience as well. I have to admit that this is where the rubber meets the road. The potential student must understand that, by virtue of Paris attracting the world’s brightest, there is a constant competition among persons of great economic and social advantage, many of whom call Paris home and switch between several languages effortlessly. Nonetheless, I was determined to find the very training I aspired to find when I first set foot on the soil, thus I began to live by a simple rule I jokingly refer to as dis bonjour, that is, “say hello.”

Many students arrive inspired and leave unsatisfied. The key is to make as many connections as possible, and AGS students are not want for opportunities as the staff sends emails to students almost each week highlighting events we should attend and opportunities for which we should apply. I encourage everyone to bite the bullet and go to said events and to take the time to apply to said opportunities. In my case, we were granted the opportunity to visit the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—coincidentally, the very place where I wanted to intern in all of Paris—thanks to our diplomacy professor, Ambassador Michael Einik. Knowing it was likely my only chance to visit the organization, I made every effort to make connections, striking up conversations with whomever. Within the month I was fortunate enough to be offered an internship with the directorate I wanted to work with most, Public affairs and Communications.

In total, apart from doing all of the going and applying, I encourage students to think outside of the box. Find ways in which you can offer professional services independent of a company or organization. For example, I am registered with an association of professional editors which has given me additional work experience and the chance to brand myself as an international freelance writer and editor. Paris is overcrowded in many ways but she still has room for you. Get here, stay vigilant and resolute, and you will find yourself right where you want to be.

I wish you all the best."

Note: the photo above was taken in April 2016 at the AGS 11th Graduate Student Conference of the American Graduate School in Paris, where Myron Manns presented a paper on the Catholic Church in International Relations.