Hollis discovered her innate leadership abilities.
“Coming to Rêve Academy was an accident—I was supposed to intern at another company, but at the last minute they backed out, so I was placed here. I love it. It’s nothing like I thought it was going to be. That first summer, what really struck me was how open the environment was and how collaborative everyone was.
I think I’ve definitely gained leadership skills from being here. Working my way through being an intern and then a senior intern, I feel like my skills have really built up. I feel confident in my ability to lead a group, execute a project well, and figure out what needs to get done.”
I am…
// 20
// Hard-working, determined, energetic
// A student at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
I dream of…
// Becoming a math teacher in an urban setting and disrupting traditional math education
Listening to Digiteer Joyce as she shares insight with the interns; posing with her team at Revival.
She embodied the value of Agility.
“My most recent client project has been challenging compared to other summers because it’s so open-ended. My team has been on the ideation side of things rather than production, so it’s been hard to motivate my interns and keep them going. Personally, I had never done the complete ideation of a campaign either so it was unfamiliar territory.
Talking to [Executive Director] Mandy has helped a lot—using her as a resource and seeing what she’s done in the past. I’ve learned to coach interns through it instead of just saying, ‘We’re doing it this way.’ I’m learning how to tell if someone is confused and how to improve my own ability to explain concepts. When I’ve gone out student teaching for my major, it’s been a lot easier for me in comparison to some of my peers who are going into education for the first time, because they don’t have that experience.
From working with Mandy, my love for education has grown and helped me stay focused. Because there have been times at college that it’s so stressful and I’ve thought, ‘This is not for me. I should just switch my major because I don’t think I can do it.’ But coming back to Reve Academy and working with the staff here to improve my coaching has really helped me.”
Hollis and members of her project team present work to their client, Community Blueprint.
She created a blueprint for successful time management.
“If one of my interns was thinking about becoming a senior intern, I would tell them to go for it, even if it takes them a couple summers of being an intern. Just because you don’t get promoted right away doesn’t mean you don’t have that quality we look for in a senior intern. And keep working on those leadership skills and time management skills. A lot of people don’t realize being a senior intern is primarily time management—not only for the summer, but day by day. How you use your prep time is critical, and understanding how everything fits together into the bigger picture.
When I made the switch from intern to senior intern, it was completely different. Now I understand how broad and complex the work can be—and the need to work backward from a goal in order to fit it all in.”
See the difference that Rêve Academy makes.
Hollis gained both technical and professional skills in her internship—and she didn’t have to pay a cent. In fact, we paid her a fair wage for her work each week, while she learned:
Professional skills
// Empathy
// Authenticity
// Collaboration
// Achievement
// Ingenuity
// Agility
Technical skills
// Tinkercad
// AutoCAD
// MakerBot
// Project management
// Agile development
Rêve Academy’s student interns of summer 2017.
Help students along their path.
If you have a heart for students, we have a place for you.
Become a digital volunteer and help our interns as they work on real-world projects. Or show our kids what an ordinary day looks like for a working professional. There are lots of ways to get involved, so don’t be shy—we can’t wait to meet you!