Amanda didn’t let her young age hold her back.
“I’m younger than most of the other interns, so that was challenging. I tried to present myself in a more mature way, and I found that a lot of people were surprised to hear I was only 14. From the way I had my posture, the way I spoke—I think that helped because it made me feel like I can do this.
I’m only 14, but this experience made me feel like I’m not just this 14-year-old who doesn’t know anything. It made me grow mentally and in every other way. Being around all these new people and in such a professional atmosphere…it made me feel like this is where I belong.”
I am…
// 14
// Energetic, hopeful, hard-working
// A student at DeLaSalle High School
I dream of…
// Becoming a language arts teacher or a writer
Getting professional feedback from a Digiteer and presenting research to the rest of the interns.
She embodied the value of Agility.
“My team created a logo and website for the People’s Movement Center. The project is called MeHub, and it helps young people learn how to relieve stress and teach others how to do so. It was a lot of work to put everything together, and most of what I learned was new to me. We’d move quickly through a software program and you just had to adapt quickly to it. I really grew in that way. Once I realized we were switching, I was like, ‘Let’s do it, let’s go for it.’
The other project I worked on was a business idea called the TOTT bag, or Take Out The Trash. It’s a reusable pouch that you can put inside your handbag to collect trash. Its purpose is to keep your bag clean, so you don’t put trash on the ground when you have nowhere else to put it. So it helps keep your community clean. But your community isn’t just the outside environment, it’s everything that surrounds you. So your handbag is part of that. That’s what I believe.
I got to see that business idea come to life at Revival. It was amazing. Revival was really fast-paced, which helped me learn that it takes a lot of work to get an idea off the ground. But with others’ help, it’s possible.”
Amanda and her project team pose with their client, the People’s Movement Center.
She realized that hard work opens the door for bigger opportunities.
“Because of my internship, I’ve grown academically. I didn’t think I would learn this much, from Adobe Illustrator to web design. It’s really cool to go to my friends and say, ‘Look at what I can do.’ Being able to learn those skills helps me in what I can do in the future. I can use all these different programs and skills to make something out of myself.
If someone out there is interested in Rêve Academy, I would tell them to go for it. Because there’s so many opportunities you can get from this. There may be times you’re uncomfortable or don’t feel like being there, but you’re going to learn so much.”
See the difference that Rêve Academy makes.
Amanda 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
// Wordpress
// Illustrator
// Google Analytics
// 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!