Sophomore Katie Harvey spent part of her summer in France interning at a center for asylum seekers in Strasbourg.

Throughout the summer, we're checking in with several returning student-athletes who are partaking in unique experiences relating to student research or internships. Our fifth profile features Katie Harvey, a sophomore midfielder from the women's lacrosse team.

Harvey's summer travels took the Ellicott City, Md., native to France, where she interned at Centre d'Accueil et d'Évaluation des Situations (Center for Welcoming and Evaluation of Situations, CAES), a center for asylum seekers in Strasbourg that provides emergency housing and assistance.

As an intern, Harvey helped ensure the residence life at the center operated seamlessly, and among her tasks were organizing supplies, assembling food packages for families, and creating poster reminders for the residents. Harvey also observed interviews between staffers and residents, and was able to learn about the asylum seekers' pasts while providing a warm welcome.

"One of my favorite days included meeting with a group of six young women," said Harvey, on interacting with residents from Armenia, Georgia, and Russia. "We talked about our personal experiences, the music we listened to, favorite foods, and challenges of learning other languages."

Many of the residents at the center came with their families, and Harvey noted "she was able to spend time with the children, and although the families spoke different languages, we helped translate for each other, played games, and colored with one another."

Harvey's big assignment while at CAES centered around the organization's promotional brochure for distribution to its partners. Harvey gained inside knowledge of the center through research and interviews with the center's chief staffers prior to zeroing in on the final content.

Harvey also enrolled in a five-week French for diplomacy course through Syracuse University's abroad program. The course, taught through the lens of European politics, exposed Harvey to the U.S. Consul General. Through the course, Harvey visited the Council of Europe, where she met the French and Mexican ambassadors, and the National Administration Graduate School.

Harvey also took some time to sightsee and travel around Europe, and she visited popular tourist attractions in the likes of Amsterdam, Krakow, London, Paris, Stuttgart, and Zurich.