It will go down as one of the most unusual years in the Cross Cultural Internship Program (CCIP, theccip.com)’s history, but 2020’s summer session has come to an end. The COVID-19 situation meant that the program had to adapt this year to provide a more focused and individualized internship experience.

Kevin, who is studying at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), spent the summer interning with GC Eng & Associates, a consulting engineering firm based in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. It was an opportunity to gain real world engineering experience while living in one of the world’s most celebrated cities.

“Interning in New York City was a dream come true for me,” Kevin said. “Of course, these were strange circumstances, but I wouldn’t trade my summer here for anything. It was an experience I will never forget.”

Gene Eng founded GC Eng & Associates nearly three decades ago and has been a regular host for CCIP for a decade. His diverse team of highly skilled engineers and architects make for excellent teachers in an environment that is professional and highly rigorous. Mr. Eng took Kevin on site visits and made him feel like part of the GC Eng family.

CCIP was a very different program this year. For one, a group of more than 70 students normally stay together in a hotel while participating in internships across the five boroughs. This year, Kevin had a place by himself near Flushing Town Hall in Queens. His elderly landlords were friendly and made sure he always had plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Kevin’s decision to join CCIP wasn’t always guaranteed. In the spring, He had been in Philadelphia completing an academic exchange at Drexel University. As the pandemic worsened, he had to choose between staying in the U.S. or returning to Hong Kong. Ultimately, he decided it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“I have always known an international internship would be important for my career ambitions,” Kevin explained. “I thought of it this way: ‘If not now, when?’ There were surely things I missed out on, like spending time with other students my age. But, in another year, I wouldn’t have had an experience like this one, with so much personal attention from my internship host and the program organizer.”

While many of the program activities that interns do in a normal year weren’t available this year, Kevin still saw a great deal. Indeed, Elizabeth Kay, who started CCIP over a decade ago, was able to be directly involved in Kevin’s experience of New York City. They traveled out of the city to see New Jersey and Long Island. They also spent time at a local Queens farm with Marc Haken, the Youth, Education, and Library Committee Chair of Community Board 8 in Queens (CB 8Q) and the President of Friends of Cunningham Park.

Kevin intends to pursue a master’s degree once he completes his degree at HKU next year. He also said he could imagine returning to New York in the future and living here.

“Despite everything, I could tell this is a city filled with energy and positivity. I’m so happy I got a chance to experience it for myself.”