Kyley Reed ’16, a former volleyball player and Sport Management student at Rice University, made use of studying and working abroad to jumpstart her career. Reed, a recent graduate, was just hired by a prestigious technology recruiting company in New York due to her remarkable experiences at Rice University and abroad.
“This past semester was incredible and hard to process having just returned,” Reed said. “But I can already say how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to complete a semester abroad.”
Reed was part of the Global Urban Lab program at Rice University. The program gives students an opportunity to engage with the world through a comprehensive program of study, research, interning, and experiences in some of the world’s major cities.
As for work, Reed spent the semester working at an online women’s health magazine called Healthista.com where she contributed written content for the magazine and helped manage social media accounts, interaction with other publications, and PR firms.
“The internship put a lot of responsibility on me, which was different than many other internship experiences,” said Reed. “Most valuably, I learned how an idea becomes a published piece, which certainly help prepare me for my career at Andiamo, which will be starting in July.”
As part of her research, she studied the practice of wearing the hijab and analyzed criticism surrounding the practice in London versus Istanbul. Rice University and the Global Urban Lab program sponsor a trip to Istanbul for the students to get hands-on experience and extensive research material.
“Studying in London offered me a glimpse of the world,” said Reed. “It allowed me to travel to places with ease, for example, the trip to Turkey was amazing and offered me a view of Istanbul that I never would’ve gotten without Rice and the Global Urban Lab.”
Adam Gustafsson, a senior from Sweden, is majoring in Sport Management and minoring in Business.