After two months of background investigation, numerous interviews, essay exams, and gathering professional recommendation letters, 20-year-old Filipino student Kristian Rivera has attained a glorious opportunity in his career: an internship at the American Counterterrorism Targeting & Resilience Institute (ACTRI) in the United States.
This Political Science major studying in Pagadian City, Mindanao has always had an interest in studying public affairs, humanities, and politics. In school, he actively took part in clubs and extracurricular activities that provided service to his fellow students as the chairperson of the student council, a president civic and welfare training service, and the leader of the debate varsity.
He also sought internship opportunities that provided him holistic self-growth while staying true to his mission of uplifting the lives of many. He interned for the Senate of the Philippines under Sen. Kiko Pangilinan’s Office, the Presidential Communications, online media platform Now You Know PH, among many others.
“One of the main reasons why I applied to various internship programs is to be able to develop my character, my skills, and to recognize more of my potential even if I grew up living in a small province,” he shared with When In Manila.
As he finished all his internships here in the Philippines, Kristian began to seek opportunities abroad that he could do remotely. This led him to discover ACTRI, which is an American nonprofit research organization focused on preventing transnational extreme-right, extreme-left, and militant-jihadi political violence.
“We study the relationship between terrorist groups and their effect on how ideologies emerge, spread, dominate, and influence countermeasures,” he added.
“My humble beginning in ACTRI will help me to set apart from the rest of the competition when I graduate. But I think that the best thing about acquiring internships, whether it be in the Philippines or in other parts of the world is the idea that you’ll be able to bring so much sense of community. In the future, I want to work for the NBI, CIA, FBI, and other intelligence agencies, securing the lives of the people,” he ended.
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