John’s Remote Internship Experience

“The virtual internship has been going great. I finished a draft of the mental health guideline that focuses on peer support for transgender individuals in Vientam. Weeks leading up to the product have been filled with literature research and many discussions with LGBTQ+ activists at my host organization, on Vietnamese trans rights.

This week, I met with my supervisor and we officially went over the mental health guideline together. I received some feedback from him, particularly in regards to the peer support program my host organization plans to implement in the future.

In other exciting news, I was invited to be a guest speaker for the cultural session held every Tuesday. In the past weeks, I’ve learnt about Vietnamese food, music, and family structure. However, last week the topic was on the LGBTQ+ community in Vietnam, and they wanted an international perspective. Therefore, I talked about American LGBTQ+ history (stonewall riots, Harvey Milk, LGBTQ+ legislation, etc) and the progress we have made so far. In the meeting, there were about 14 U.S. students from various colleges and universities along with local Vietnamese students and supervisors. They seemed to find it very informative, and I was excited to compare my experience with LGBTQ+ experience in Vietnam, as they are very similar.

Next week, I will be talking to my supervisor about where this guideline is going and how they plan to directly use it in the future. It is sad that this experience is coming to an end, but it has definitely changed me for the better!”