Chrisler White ’28 thought the Douglass-O’Connell Global Internship was a longshot for him. This annual summer experience in Dublin, Ireland, receives more than 500 applications each year and only accepts around a dozen students.
“I did not expect to get it,” says the native of Louisville, Ky., who is pursuing a German and history double major with a concentration in gender studies. “I just kept wondering if my qualifications were enough.”
In February, White learned that he was one of 14 students selected for the program nationwide.
The Douglass-O’Connell Global Internship memorializes the meeting of American abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Irish reformer Daniel O’Connell in 1845, when Douglass traveled to Ireland to speak against slavery. The Irish people embraced Douglass and his message.
During the internship, students explore a chosen career while participating in excursions that follow Douglass and O’Connell’s footsteps around the country, learning about Irish history and culture and attending networking events. Travel expenses, tuition and housing are covered by the program, and students receive a stipend for living expenses.
“Ireland is somewhere I have always wanted to go, but I had no idea about the connection to Frederick Douglass until I started doing research. I was inspired by his human rights work,” he says.
The encouragement of friends and mentors like Bence Bays, a study abroad advisor in the Office of International Programs, gave White the confidence to pursue the opportunity. “They showed me that my experiences made me a good candidate,” he says.
Those experiences include White’s involvement as an admissions ambassador, a member of the Wofford Honor Council, a brother in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and president of the Climbing Club. They also include lessons he has learned through his coursework.
“My classes in German and history have opened my eyes to the different perspectives that are out there, and learning another language has given me a greater ability to break cultural barriers,” he says.
White believes the skills he has gained as a Bonner Scholar will be especially helpful abroad. Through Bonner, he works as a community involvement intern and program development leader for the Spartanburg Faith Initiative to End Child Poverty. In this role, he helps compile data on congregations and their community assets across Spartanburg County and aids with staffing at shelter locations in the A Way Home network.
“Every day is different. Sometimes you are digging through records and sometimes you are helping a family get settled at a shelter,” he says. “This work has taught me to adapt quickly and build bridges with people from different backgrounds.”
Bays says this international internship will give a new layer of depth to White’s experiential learning.
"Study abroad provides students access to academic coursework and experiential opportunities they may not have here on campus,” she says. "Students gain invaluable skills as they navigate cultural differences and interact with local communities abroad. These opportunities help students develop transferable skills such as communication, adaptability and problem-solving while gaining higher levels of confidence and maturity.”
Experiencing day-to-day life in a foreign country is one of the things White is most looking forward to.
“I want to immerse myself in what it is like to live there,” he says. “My goal is to learn valuable lessons from a culture that is not my own and see what it is like to work in a larger community than Spartanburg.”
He also hopes to watch a few matches of one of his favorite sports.
“As a rugby fan, it will be nice to be in a place where it is a big sport,” he says. “I hope to see the Irish national team play.”
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