Placement: Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy (MCCD), Washington D.C.: September 4 – December 26, 2019
During her internship at MCCD, Hajnalka was responsible for the following tasks: creating social media content (graphics, articles, text for posts); coming up with a social media plan for posting (frequency, days, and language to be used); preparing background information about Meridian in order to write pitches to journalists to make it easier for them to write articles about Meridian; helping in the administration and organization of diplomatic and cultural events such as film screenings, architectural delegations, exhibits, lectures; editing newsletters in Adobe InDesign; drafting blogposts and creating graphics in Adobe Photoshop. On October 25, she also had the chance to attend the 8th annual Meridian Global Leadership Summit, where she was in charge of registering media arriving to cover the event, while also monitoring social media for specific hashtags and questions regarding the conference. Hajnalka also helped in creating regular content for the Hungarian American Coalition’s Instagram account. Hajnalka also had the chance to participate in the 3rd annual Young Hungarian Leaders Program organized by the Hungary Initiatives Foundation. Apart from her internship at Meridian, Hajnalka also got involved in the life of the Hungarian American community: she regularly attended activities of the Hungarian scouts in DC and together with Coalition Board member Eva E. Voisin, she represented the Coalition at the 2019 Ambassadors of the Future Gala in Beverly Hills, CA. Hajnalka was also instrumental in helping the Coalition with its preparations for the annual Mikulás Dinner and its Annual and Board Meetings.
“The program was a success both professionally and personally. I met really interesting people, saw and learned countless things, and pondered topics I otherwise wouldn’t have. It opened my horizons and helped me decide the direction I want to take my life in – what I enjoy and thrive doing and what I simply endure. I feel that I’ve come out of this program stronger, more focused, still curious to always learn more, and eager to take on new challenges.”
Hajnalka holds an undergraduate degree in Communications and Media from Corvinus University Budapest (Budapest, Hungary) and she has recently obtained her Master’s degree in International Relations from the same university. Alongside her university studies, Hajnalka pursued various internships: she participated in the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Internship Program helping the Hungarian diaspora in Geneva, Switzerland for six months in 2014, and she was a summer intern at the Hungarian Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade working for Máté Szalai, expert on Middle Eastern affairs between June-August 2018. Prior to her internship in DC, Hajnalka worked as a news anchor and editor for MTVA, Hungarian Public Media’s 10-minute English-language news segment, Hungary Reports since 2015. Hajnalka is interested in media relations, public diplomacy, social media’s effect on nation branding and image building, intercultural interactions and international relations. She speaks English and French fluently and German on a basic level.