By Nicole Palatchi

Nicole Palatchi is a sophomore at Ohio State University majoring in marketing. Last summer, she interned for Bringg, a web and mobile-based platform for managing deliveries, as part of the Onward Israel internship program. 

The Onward Israel experience was an amazing two months that I wouldn’t trade for anything. The Cincinnati Onward program is so involved from the time you sign up until you land back home, and you really get to know your peers and the amazing staff. The program is structured with four internship days, one tiyul (day trip), and one evening activity with the madrichim (Israeli group facilitators) per week.

I was an intern for a startup called Bringg. It allows business to track and manage deliveries in real time with an “Uber-like" mobile-based platform. The aim is to eliminate "waiting in the dark" for everything from pizza delivery to home repair services. Day to day, I assisted with executing our social media campaign as a marketing intern. My internship also promoted a healthy lifestyle by encouraging employees to eat salads everyday (fresh vegetables and fruit were provided!), and also by giving us free gym access. This company was an amazing place to work and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them in Israel.

Cincinnati Onward program also provides a Shabbat weekend with host families in Netanya, Cincinnati’s sister city in Israel. This was a great way to see how other Jewish families observe the faith in Israel. In addition to the host family Shabbat weekend, Onward holds a Shabbaton (weekend away) where participants get to meet other student interns from around the world. During our stay in Israel we were also allowed to travel on free weekends throughout the country, to see family or cities that were not covered with our tiyulim (day trips).

My Onward Israel internship equipped me with a lot valuable information about the career I'd like to pursue after studying at Ohio State. The start-up environment is a fun, fast-paced workplace, and I would love to find a marketing career revolving around that. I hope to return to Israel as soon as possible. I loved living there for two months and I highly recommend this internship opportunity.