By Ben Jakubowski
An opportunity for Cuyahoga Community College students that can fluently speak, read, and write in both Spanish and English can now apply for a Bilingual Scholarship. Thanks to a donation from Westfield Group Insurance, several internships (that pay $10 per hour) have become available through the Hispanic Council Office at Tri-C West. To get one of these positions, you must be a student at Tri-C and willing to work a consistent 15 hours every week.
The internships would utilize your bilingual skills in likely a secretarial position, one that would have you keeping in touch with the clients by email and phone, as well as scheduling meetings and having some organizational skills. This also means students must have some customer service abilities, but the good news is that the Hispanic Council will give you some training to help you on your way.
This is not the first time there have been internships available through Hispanic Council. There have been other very similar opportunities in the recent past. Such as with Yeymi (Jamie) Cedeño, a student at Tri-C West. Cedeño was an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who came to Cleveland with her mother and two younger sisters and was reunited with her father when she got here, she chose Tri -C.
Cedeño says, “It was the first place where I found support since I moved here.” The Hispanic Council helped Cedeño by providing her with an internship. She now works with the Spanish American Committee, who helped many immigrants moving to Cleveland from Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria.
Cedeño is building her future by looking at 4-year colleges and plans to get a degree in International Business, which will allow her to be of even more assistance to the Spanish American Committee. Cedeño says, “Thank you so much Tri-C for being my first step in my new life here, and thanks Spanish American Committee for the opportunity to learn and grow in what I love to do.”
Internships opportunities from the Hispanic Council continues to give students experiences that have allowed them to help others. Such as, some who are new to the country, who may have had similar experiences to the students themselves, or have adjust to a new place so they may call it home.
The Hispanic Council of Tri-C West is managed by Esther Kraft. Kraft is available to all students who need assistance with bypassing language barriers. For those who are interested in the internship, send resumes to esther.kraft@tri-c.edu
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