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Benjamin Pla is a rising senior attending Coral Gables Senior High who independently has been organizing and executing the creation of the Student International Pathways Program.
The SIP Program has partnered with consulate offices to create internship and volunteer opportunities for South Florida high school students interested in international affairs.
Consulates are physical representations of a foreign nation in a non-capital city. Typically, they aid travelers and nationals visiting or residing within their region of governance. Usual powers include granting travel, education, and business visas to those holding foreign passports.
After almost a year of reaching out to various offices, meeting with consuls via Zoom, website designing, and social media outreach, Pla has been able to partner with four consulate offices and give internship opportunities to six high school students as of Summer 2021.
“While we’ve started small, I think it’s an amazing start to something really great,” he said.
“I’m always reaching out to other offices and discussing the possibility of expanding. Right now we’re looking to expand our program further to give even more students from every part of South Florida the opportunity to intern.”
Pla started this program after his own difficulty in finding available professional opportunities for high school students in international affairs.
“At the end of my freshman year, I cold emailed hundreds of government offices here in South Florida hoping that they would be ‘the one.’ Despite this, I faced many roadblocks as I wasn’t in college. Eventually, though, the Thai Consulate invited me to intern, and I immediately fell in love with consular work. I sorted visas, interviewed visa applicants, and other tasks. The best thing though was getting to meet the myriad of people seeking a Thai visa. From families looking to relocate, male beauty pageant contestants, United Nations military coordinators, and others, I found the stories of these people fascinating,” Pla said.
“I eventually went on to intern for other government offices, which led me to my current internship at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office where I’ve been able to expand upon my interest in international affairs. Despite this, I was heavily fortunate in having received my first opportunity. Therefore, in the spring of my sophomore year, I began creating the SIP Program.”
Currently, the program hosts four students in four partner offices including the consulates of North Macedonia, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. Students have been able to work on numerous projects involving history, research, social media, public outreach, and partnering with various cultural and academic groups.
Despite the difficulties in creating the program, Pla said that the journey was rewarding knowing that new doors and opportunities in international affairs have been created for students in Miami.
If you want to apply for an internship or partner with the SIP program, visit: https://sippmia.wixsite.com/home.
