Benjamin Pla is a rising senior in the International Baccalaureate Program at Coral Gables Senior High School. Pla founded the Student International Pathways Program following his own difficulty in finding international relations-based internships in South Florida. After months of cold emailing numerous governmental offices, including consulates, he was offered an internship at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in the Summer of 2019. Following this, Pla went on to intern for many other offices including the City of Coral Gables Commission Office, Congresswoman Donna Shalala, and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. These experiences, and his own difficulty in finding internships, led him to create the SIP program in order to provide passionate high school students with work experience. 

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Other than his internships and running the SIP Program, Pla is also President of his school's Model United Nations team, Treasurer of the International Bauccaulreate Honor Society, Secretary-General of Miami's Independently Assembled Model United Nations Conference, and Clubs Editor of his Yearbook. He's helped assemble many politically-based events such as the Young Leaders Summit, Miami-Dade Youth Town Hall, MIAMUN, and CavMUN conferences. As of recent, Pla's been admitted as part of the first cohort of the Havard International Relations Scholars Program where he works on foreign relations policy with experts in East Asian affairs.