Taylor Reinke
Texas, USA
2021

Taylor is studying Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University.  She joined the VACorps program in May 2021 and participated in an internship at a surfboard manufacturing company. 

“When I first began the search for an internship last fall, I never dreamed that I would spend three months in Cape Town. By the Lord’s providence, this was the only internship that ended up front and center, and I realized that spending the summer abroad may be a very real possibility. There really is no place like Cape Town. Naturally, Cape Town is the most beautiful place I have been in – between the mountains and ocean you can never go wrong.

My internship was with a surfboard startup company in Muizenberg. I am studying mechanical engineering but am extremely interested in small business, so this internship was a perfect combination of the two. I also got the opportunity to surf quite a bit while I was here – something I had never had the opportunity to do before either. I enjoyed the full Cape Town experience – from hiking Table Mountain to surfing in the Indian Ocean to Culture Series and the vast number of Friday Activities that allowed me so many new and exciting opportunities. I am so grateful for the people of VACorps – without the program establishing a group of interns here to befriend and live 3 months with, I would not have made it in Cape Town. The program advisors care so much and have become some of my dearest friends and people I have learned so much from.

I could write forever about my Cape Town experience, but there are not enough words to express the lessons I learned the memories I will take with me when I leave. I would not trade any of them for the world.”

View Engineering Internships

Meet our most recent VACorps program alumni:

Chris Doe, Massachussets, USA (2023)

Chris joined the VACorps program in January 2023 as part of his Gap year and participated in a human rights internship.  I decided to come to Cape Town to do an internship because I […]

Nico Theunissen, New York, USA (2023)

Nico joined the VACorps Program in January 2023 as part of his Gap year and participated in an internship at a clean energy engineering company.  “Living in New York City, coming to Cape Town […]

Derya Tunçaral, Istanbul, Turkey (2023)

Derya is a recent graduate of Istanbul Bilgi University where he earned his bachelor’s in International Relations. He joined the VACorps program in November 2022 and participated in a political science internship.  “It was […]

Isabelle Ryan, Illinois, USA (2023)

Isabelle joined the VACorps Program in January 2023 as part of her Gap year and participated in a business internship.  “Originally, I was nervous about coming to Cape Town. I had never been so […]

Alize Serez, Istanbul, Turkey, (2023)

Aliza has recently earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Istanbul Bilgi University.  She joined the VACorps Program in September 2022 and participated in a Political Science Internship.  “The reason I chose Cape […]

Carley Adams, Ontario, Canada, (2023)

Carley is a recent MSc graduate of the University of Edinburgh, specializing in Medical Anthropology. She joined the VACorps Program in January 2023 and participated in a public health internship.  “Cape Town is such […]

You may also be interested in: