MAEUS Student Nicholas Zalewski on Writing a Weekly "Europe Central" Column as Part of a Remote Internship with Modern Treatise

By Nicholas Zalewski, M.A. Student in European Union Studies and Graduate Research Assistant, European Union Center

Over this past winter break I was selected for an internship with Modern Treatise. I found this internship through LinkedIn while searching for remote internships. As I am finishing my last semester of my MA in European Union Studies and still have my lease in Champaign-Urbana, I was not able to move in order to complete an internship. 

As many internships are unpaid, I understand students may be unwilling to relocate due to the financial burden as well. Instead of waiting to do an internship in the summer, I encourage you to look for internships you can complete remotely during the school year as well. While it may seem intimidating to see high numbers of applicants for internships it is important to apply for any that you feel you already have relevant skills and experience the interviewers may be interested in. It is difficult to predict who will be selected, but if you do not apply you will never have the opportunity to receive an acceptance. Not all internships are 40 hours a week yet can still add valuable experience to your resume. I devote between 10-15 hours a week to my internship.

Modern Treatise is an online magazine targeting Millennials aged 25-34 years old. I will be an intern for Modern Treatise for six months. During this time, I will be writing the weekly column Europe Central in the International section of the magazine. The aim of the Europe Central column is to highlight important topics and developments from various parts of Europe that are not always reported on in American media. An exciting aspect of the internship is I am able to pitch my own ideas for the column. I use my experience of tracking down unusual stories that I gained while searching for interesting articles to include in the "Meanwhile in Europe" section for the European Union Center’s e-weekly. Despite what people may think, many European Union member states have newspapers published in English which can help Americans gain insight into each country. Besides looking for sources in English, I am also able to utilize my foreign language skills and look for relevant articles in Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. I am excited to use this opportunity to expand my knowledge of Europe and learn more about European countries that Americans often neglect.

In my first article I discuss the rural-urban divide and two potential solutions Spain is using to try to lure younger Spaniards into working in rural areas. This is relevant as European countries may struggle to maintain their currently stable food supplies if the populations in rural regions continue to age as the young continue migrate to urban areas. A poll conducted in several Eastern European countries showed that a very small percentage of teenagers plan on working in agriculture. The majority of teenagers polled attached negative values with any work involving agriculture. These negative values included that it requires a lot of manual labor and that it is a job only suitable for men. For this article I found it beneficial to be able to read articles in Spanish as there were very few articles written about these initiatives in English and some details were excluded as well.

The second article looks at Kosovo’s recent elections which resulted in Vetëvendosje winning. Albin Kurti, leader of Vetëvendosje, stated he would support a referendum in Kosovo to form a political union with Albania, and also made it clear he would vote yes. Kosovo may struggle to accomplish this with Albania’s current ambitions to join the European Union. Albania is currently waiting to start negotiation talks with the EU but may form a union instead with Kosovo if its chances of joining the European Union fade away. Albanian politicians have made it clear they will unite with Kosovo inside or outside the European Union. There is support in Kosovo for a political union with Albania since Kosovo continues to struggle to gain official recognition of its independence from Serbia.

A new column is published weekly at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The third article, published March 9, discusses how some Eastern European countries have seen an influx of citizens moving back due to the pandemic. You can read these columns here.