Shaked Karabelnicoff
Internship placement: Embassy of Israel in Ottawa
Personal Statement
Shaked Karabelnicoff is a second-year student majoring in Journalism. Shaked grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba to an Argentinian-Israeli family. She speaks Spanish and Hebrew in addition to English and has a passion for travel, photography, and cuisine. Her passion for journalism is rooted in her love for storytelling, and she hopes to pursue this as a career after graduating. Shaked will be interning at the Embassy of Israel in Ottawa.
Blog #2
March 24, 2019
As the academic year comes to a close, I reflect on the impact and knowledge I have gained from the DFL Internship. My internship placement, coupled with the DFL training seminars, have been central to my growth as a leader.
I had the privilege of interning at the Embassy of Israel in Canada. Working in the Public Diplomacy Department, I had the opportunity to work closely with the Public Relations and Communications team. In my role, I was tasked with a multitude of different responsibilities. I helped with everything from composing Tweets to writing speeches. Aside from the concrete projects I worked on, the most impactful experience of my internship was experiencing the work environment at the Embassy. Every week I was welcomed to the office warmly, and I always felt like my presence was valued and important.
My supervisors took it upon themselves to whole-heartedly mentor me. I never felt that the tasks I was assigned were trivial, and I learned from even the smallest of projects. The impact of these teaching moments was unparalleled.
One of the projects I worked on was creating a video for the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and Canada. The video was made up of photographs and significant moments from each decade. I was tasked with searching through the archives for the photos, writing captions, and creating all the digital multimedia content within the video. The video will be used on social media, and at events.
During the process of compiling the video, I went through a lengthy editing stage, making various revision to my piece before getting the final approval. This taught me about the importance of accepting constructive feedback and explaining the process behind my decisions.
The experiences I gained were particularly transferable to my area of study: journalism. Despite the fact that my placement wasn’t directly related to journalism, many of the skills I learned in my role equipped me with a number of strengths and helped me in my studies. It also demonstrated how the skills I learn in the journalism program can transfer into real-world roles outside of the direct field. For example, in the video project I created, I relied on many of my journalism-related knowledge.
This year, I learned that leadership means taking the time to mentor others and making them feel included. My supervisors were always busy, but that never deterred them from sitting with me, to teach and guide me through every task. Due to their continued guidance and support, I was able to grow and learn. Some of the tasks I found challenging at the beginning of my internship became second-nature towards the end. They also consulted me for my opinion and kept me in the loop about the happenings of the Embassy. I knew this was not required, and it made me feel like a member of the team. These experiences have taught me the type of leader and mentor I wish to be.
I have truly valued my time as a DFL intern. Both at my internship placement and through the training seminars, I gained valuable experiences which I will transfer in my future endeavours.
Blog #1
January 8, 2019
The Developing Future Leaders program has been an incredible experience so far. This is my first year participating in the program, and I am interning at the Embassy of Israel in Canada. I am a second-year student, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Religion. I have a passion for politics, writing and reading, photography, and love to travel. In my position as an intern, I get to work with the public relations, communications, and speech-writing departments. My work can be challenging, but it feels meaningful. I am constantly learning on the job, and each week I leave feeling fulfilled.
To date, my internship has been comprised of a variety of tasks. Every day is different, though always busy, and I look forward to going to work. My first project was a comprehensive research report. At the time, my research experience was very limited, so this was a challenge, but I was excited at the opportunity. I spent time reading, analyzing, and compiling information, which turned into a thorough report. I felt accomplished when I presented it to the Ambassador, who told me my research would be used as a foundation for further work. I was beaming with excitement. My work felt important and I felt valued.
Our big event in December was an annual Chanukah dinner, celebrating the 70-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between Israel and Canada. In preparation for the event, I was tasked with creating the invitation. I had a chance to practice my graphic design skills and create a beautiful invitation which featured an array of maple-leafs and magen-davids along the borders. It took various revisions from my supervisors before the final design was approved. I learned that a lengthy editing process is standard in this job, and I would encounter it various times while working at the Embassy. Once I was done the invitation, it was my responsibility to create a master list of invitees, and later help create the seating chart for the event. During this time, I had a chance to work closely with various departments and understand how the Embassy functions as a whole. I felt like the work I was doing mattered. I was invited to attend the Chanukah event, and I helped with some coordination while I was there. It was deeply rewarding to see all our hard work come together in a smooth and successful event.
Along with these special projects, I have had the opportunity to engage in daily communications tasks. I gained experience creating content on Twitter and Facebook, which has helped me to better understand the implementation of social media strategies in communications. I have written letters, speeches, and magazine features on behalf of the Ambassador, which has shown me the intricacies of speech-writing, and the way in which my journalism skills can be applied in this field. Since September, I’ve done more research projects, presentations, and content curation. It has all been an extremely rewarding learning experience.
I feel very fulfilled with my work at the Embassy of Israel. I constantly feel challenged, but my supervisors have become great mentors. They make me feel like my work is important and valuable. I feel privileged to be a part of the team at the Embassy of Israel, and I’m excited to continue my work throughout the rest of the academic year!