Xinyi is studying accounting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and joined the VACorps program in January 2021 where she participated in a remote internship at a fin-tech company.
“Due to the pandemic, I returned to my hometown Hong Kong, and I started to look at remote internship opportunities online. That’s when I received the college’s email about VACorps’ Remote internship abroad in South Africa, and I thought it would be a valuable opportunity to get experience working with a company and understand more about South Africa’s culture and business environment. The experience turned out to be beyond expectation. I much enjoyed my internship, as the team has a vibrant and supportive ambiance, and it made me feel that my opinions are valued. Furthermore, my supervisor, who was also the company’s CEO, had also been approachable and frequently communicated with me to ask about my progress and answer any question. She provided various working opportunities to me beyond accounting works, which helped me to reconfirm my interests in business analytics. During the three months, I got to step out of my comfort zone by presenting my analytical findings through weekly meetings. This experience enabled me to polish my presentation skill that was once one of my weaknesses. Overall, I improved professionally and personally through this internship opportunity, and I will miss the wonderful team at my internship site, and the supportive VACorps staff.”
Meet our most recent VACorps program alumni:
Laila Wheeler, California, USA (2023)
Laila Wheeler is studying Public Affairs, Education, and Sociology at the University of California Los Angeles. She participated in a human rights internship from June - August of 2023. "Traveling to Cape Town was genuinely [...]
Innogen Naylor, Vermont, USA (2023)
Innogen joined the VACorps Program as part of her Gap Year in January 2023 and participated in an internship at a local school for learners from Zimbabwe who are attempting to integrate into the South [...]
Avital Strauss, Illinois, USA (2023)
Avital joined the VACorps PRogram as part of her Gap Year in January 2023 and participated in an internship at an NGO that supports and serves underprivileged communities in one of Cape Town's townships. [...]
William Monkarsh, California, USA (2023)
Will joined the VACorps Program in January 2023, as part of his GAP year, and participated in an internship at an eco-tourism company in Cape Town. "My experience with VAC has definitely been life-changing. [...]
Clancy Erickson, North Carolina, USA (2022)
Clancy recently completed her BA in Human Services Studies at Elon University. She joined the VACorps program in September 2022, and participate in an internship at an NGO that supports refugees in Cape Town. [...]
Dylan DeRosa, New York, USA (2023)
Dylan joined the VACorps program in January 2023 as part of his Gap Year and participated in a human rights law internship. "Cape Town and the VACorps have provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and experience [...]
