Eleven months in the heart of the Saint-Gotthard Massif
My name is Sara Unternährer. I am 22 years old and study tourism at the Grisons College of Higher Education for Tourism in Engadin. My second year of study consists of an internship in the communications department at Andermatt Swiss Alps AG. I spent a year studying full time at the school in Engadin before the internship started, and I will return to the school for another year after it ends.
The internship between the school years lasts 11 months and is optimally integrated into the study. It enables students to put into practice what they learned in their first year of study. I really appreciated being able to work independently from the outset of the internship. I felt respected from the very beginning and a part of the team.
I really like the tasks in the communications department. There is something new to do every day, and that makes the work rich in variety: writing texts, editing videos, organising media trips and events and much more. With my tasks, as well as by managing my own time, I can gain valuable experience for the third year of school.
In the final year, I will have to decide on a major. The choice is between marketing and event management. A PR seminar can be combined with both of them. For me, the internship had a decisive impact on the choice of major. It allowed me to see how the work functions in practice and whether I like these tasks. It would have been much more difficult to make this decision on the basis of the theory taught in course work.
As a native of Uri, I am happy to be back in the canton of Uri after spending a year studying in Engadin. I was thrilled when I saw the job advertisement and really hoped that I would land this internship spot. I find it exciting and diverting that I can complete my study and the internship at two different tourism destinations. At both places, I can spend my free time after school or work outdoors in nature – hiking or climbing in the summer, and of course on the slopes in the winter.
The time here in Andermatt was filled with many new impressions. I will be able to benefit from these experiences in the next school year as well as at jobs in the future.
