Bryan and Nila weren’t sure they were ready to be leaders.
Bryan
“Things weren’t going so well at school…I wasn’t really caring. But that changed the more I got into Rêve Academy. I happened to be one of the shyest students, so climbing my way through Reve and becoming one of the senior interns is a big change for me.”
Nila
“Rêve Academy was my first job ever, and I didn’t know what I was coming into. I didn’t know what InDesign or Photoshop or all this stuff was. Even after two internships here, I thought I wasn’t ready when I was asked to become a senior intern. But of course, you guys boosted me up, you trusted me with it. So I thought, ‘OK, I’ll try it out.’”
Bryan and Nila collaborating with professionals at Rêve Revival, a one-day accelerator for their business idea.
How did it feel when you were asked to be leaders?
“When we were first approached about being senior interns, I was pretty excited but also pretty shocked. Because I think some of the other senior interns weren’t promoted as quickly as we were.
So Nila and I were looking at each other with shock in our eyes and had to figure out whether we wanted to do it. We discussed it with Andrew [Director of Student-Run Businesses] over the next couple weeks and started to get excited. And so from there we signed up for the position.”
Discussing what it means to be a leader during Senior Intern Training.
What’s your biggest challenge?
Bryan’s Team Project
Creating digital content for the YMCA
“The first few days of being a senior intern were hard. I didn’t give as many explanations and give off the right energy at first, but now I think I’ve been doing a lot better. I want my team to have a lot of fun, genuine fun.
My other challenge is having the team collaborate and put out ideas instead of me guiding them towards the ideas. I want them to be the loudest team in the room.”
Nila’s Team Project
Developing business relationships for Rêve Academy Dev
“Planning the activities is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. You think you have enough work planned for a whole week, but they learn fast!
Getting new clients also makes me feel nervous. But I think we can do it, because these guys are smart and they know how to get through things. At our first trial meeting, they were answering questions really fast and professionally. It was really good.”
How will this change your future?
“I can see that not many other people my age have the same knowledge or hold the same skills. It’s going to get me further in life than I thought I would be.”
– Bryan
“Someday, I want to own my own boutique or be a stylist or something along those lines. I want to be my own boss and lead my team to success. Learning how to lead a team here will help me do that.”
– Nila
See the difference that Rêve Academy makes.
Bryan and Nila gained both technical and professional skills in their senior internships—and they didn’t have to pay a cent. In fact, we paid them a fair wage for their work each week, while they learned:
Professional skills
// Empathy
// Authenticity
// Collaboration
// Achievement
// Ingenuity
// Agility
Technical skills
// Basecamp
// Drupal
// Business Development
// Project Management
// Agile Development
Rêve Academy’s student interns of summer 2016.
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!