Guo Kaidi, a graduate from the School of Environment at Tsinghua University, has long been determined to pursue her dream at international organizations. She had a 5-month internship experience in 2020, fulfilling her duties in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Let’s delve into her story.
Embarking on the internship journey of UN
Kaidi always perceives herself as a lucky person. After the spring semester exchange program in Venice, Italy back in 2019, she came across the UN internship program and seized the opportunity without hesitation. She possesses a distinctive flair for fearlessly embracing challenges and uncertainties, courageously stepping beyond the boundaries of her comfort zone. She also hopes to deepen her understanding of international relations and the operating mechanisms of the UN through this internship.
Before embarking on the internship journey in January 2020, a conference on SDGs hosted by her supervisor’s team was held in Guilin in December 2019. Kaidi accepted her supervisor’s invitation to attend this workshop at her own expense, trying to know more about the team and the topic before going to New York alone. Despite the significant hurdles they faced, Kaidi was profoundly touched by the unwavering determination of developing countries. These nations, grappling with limited capital, insufficient infrastructure, and constrained capacity, inspired her greatly as they steadfastly sought to learn from their more developed counterparts.
“You will never understand their desire for development and the big gap falling behind developed countries unless you come here on-site,” said Kaidi.
Kaidi in the UN Hall
Since then, the ambition to make a meaningful impact on the unfortunate vulnerable populations has taken deep root in her heart. The UN serves as a pivotal platform, fostering communication, negotiation, and collaboration among governments, private sectors, academia, and various stakeholders, aligning perfectly with her aspirations.
As an intern, Kaidi’s role is to facilitate capacity-building projects for developing countries in enhancing the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) capacities for achieving SDGs. Amidst the global upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the UN responded with urgency and took action swiftly. Building on this basis and in partnership with other UN agencies, her team launched the global initiative "Call for Technological Solutions for Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impacts," a moment she would never forget. Kaidi was appointed as focal liaison of this project and countless technical files flooded Kaidi’s email every day. She was responsible for sorting them out in an organized and comprehensible format, selecting promising technologies, and following up with details. This work gave her a lot of pressure at first when she encountered multifarious and complicated technologies all at once.
Through rapid learning in the following days, Kaidi eventually adapted to the workflow, classifying the technologies into specific genres, from drug design to epidemic prediction, while picking certain projects full of prospects and tracing them. Many Chinese companies including Alibaba Group, stood out with advanced development, leading several stages ahead of others, which deeply impressed Kaidi. She finally managed to accomplish a full report exceeding 60,000 words in two and a half months. “It was the most meaningful task I have completed during the internship, enabling me to make real contributions to tackling a global risk. I was so proud at that time, feeling that though I am only a student, I am a valuable person for the world,” Kaidi said.
Beyond UN: paving the way to multiple international organizations
The past experiences in the UN had greatly shaped Kaidi’s career goals and ambition, igniting her passion for casting more influences on the international stage as a youth from China. In addition to official organizations like the UN, Kaidi is particularly fascinated by numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their impactful missions. Thus, she decided to experience working in different kinds of international organizations after her UN internship. She then started an internship at the World Economic Forum (WEF), assisting in the research of green investment in the Belt and Road region with the purpose of promoting a more extensive global understanding of the initiative.
Kaidi on the 22th TEMM Youth Forum
“I believe it’s the TsinghuaRen spirit that inspires me to keep moving forward, despite encountering many obstacles and self-doubt,” said Kaidi as she recalled her experience. While international organizations often generate innovative ideas, whether these programs translate into practical impacts can be uncertain, leaving Kaidi without direct insights. Nevertheless, Kaidi's unwavering commitment to her work never changed; she consistently found a profound sense of purpose each time she organized conferences and successfully fostered connections.
China's interests in international participation are negatively impacted by the continued underrepresentation of Chinese nationals among UN employees, particularly in UN development organizations. This situation inspired Kaidi to shoulder the responsibility of her generation and try to foster greater representation for China.
Back from her onsite internship at the UN, Kaidi was appointed as president of the Tsinghua University Student Association for Global Governance and International Organizations (THUIO) in 2021. The one-year experience deeply imbued her with a profound sense of purpose. She and the team organized several university-level events to raise awareness of working in IOs, build capacities for internship applications, and develop professional skills for all Tsinghua students.
“I think the biggest achievement of our team is that we eliminated the information barriers. Because of our work, many Tsinghua students are starting to believe that working in an international organization and making contributions to global affairs could also be their career choice. Never mind the difficulties ahead; just take three months and give it a try; the answer lies in your heart,” Kaidi said.
Kaidi hosted related events at Tsinghua
