AME student Thomas Baldwin Internship Experience at Casa Scalabrini 634
Thomas Baldwin is a Junior Aerospace Engineering student from Chattaroy, Washington, USA currently in Rome with the AME study abroad program. While studying in Italy he is interning at Casa Scalabrini 634 teaching English to locals and immigrants.
What exactly is Casa Scalabrini 634?
Casa Scalabrini 634 is a part of the Scalabrinian Agency for Development Cooperation, an agency founded in memory of St. John Scalabrini to provide migrants around the world with the resources needed to succeed in their new homes. Casa Scalabrini participates in this mission by serving as both a home for migrants and a location in which skills such as tailoring, language learning, driving and more are taught by the volunteers that work there. This is where I fit in: I teach beginning English to a handful of Romans and immigrants at Casa Scalabrini along with an Irish graduate student named Niamh.
How did you choose your internship?
While engineering is a major interest of mine, I had already done engineering internships in the past which provided me with valuable experience and many learning points. However, seeing as I would be studying abroad in Rome, I thought I should push myself into trying something new and working to improve in areas apart from engineering. Thus, I selected Casa Scalabrini: it afforded me the opportunity to engage my intercultural interests while also helping others, something I thought would be very impactful and instructive for the future.
How has your experience been? What have you learned?
My experience at Casa Scalabrini has been so valuable! The biggest takeaway for me has been an increase in confidence and empathy. Before our first lesson, we were under the impression that our students had previous English experience, so we figured we would start by getting to know them and asking what they wanted to improve on in the class. How wrong we were! Our students actually had barely any experience with English, so we had to adjust quite a bit that day. However, in the time since, we have had solid lesson plans prior to each lesson, and as we have improved our Italian while getting to know our students better, teaching has become so much more effective and enjoyable. Also, I feel my daily interactions beyond teaching are even more successful: I can now be more self-assured, patient and understanding, because I have done all of it teaching in a language that I once barely knew!
Would you recommend this experience to others?
Of course! Don’t feel tethered to your major when seeking out internships or experiences. Instead, pursue things that either interest you or make you better. For me, volunteering at Casa Scalabrini has fulfilled both of these points. Additionally, I have been able to help others learn English, which is sure to prove very useful in the future for my students. If you want to have the opportunity to assist others, gain more insight into Italian and world culture, and push yourself to holistically improve as a human being, definitely consider interning at Casa Scalabrini 634.