Nasir’s mind was opened during his internship.
“I’ve always been a confident person—confident in myself and in how I feel. But the feedback that was given to me here just changed the whole entire way I look at everything. Other interns helped me see where change was possible, and that changed my outlook on myself and how I see other people.
So for example, one exercise had us creating fictional business ideas just to get our creativity flowing. Usually I would make something up that would interest me and not anybody else, but this made me incorporate empathy as well. And creating ideas out of nothing helped grow my ingenuity.”
I am…
// 18
// Analytical, straightforward, listener
// A graduate of Plymouth Christian Youth Center
I dream of…
// Becoming a music producer, architect, or engineer
Brainstorming business ideas centered around racial equity.
He embodied the value of Ingenuity.
“I think I’ve grown most in ingenuity and empathy. Usually if something wasn’t relevant to what I’m doing, I wouldn’t acknowledge it. But here, the process of helping someone with their business taught me to feel how they would feel…how I could help further their business even more.
I was really excited about my team’s business idea for Revival—I just wanted everybody to see it and how it can benefit society. It’s called Culture Hunt and it’s basically Pokemon Go for cultures. It’s like a scavenger hunt: we notify you that it’s time to explore a certain culture. So our app would prompt you to go to a store, or a restaurant, or even a mosque or church, where you can learn about cultures that are less understood or less appreciated. And then by participating, you earn points towards travel.
At first we thought this idea could be a class or an after-school club, but me and my partner Aaliyah felt that it wouldn’t speak to the people as much. We wanted to put it in their hands and help them use their free time to better themselves and become more cultured. Being afraid of a person is wrong, because people are people. It’s not like the color of my skin or the religion I practice is wrong because it’s different from yours. I think our Culture Hunt app would bring justice to those groups that are portrayed as bad, because firsthand experiences are the best way to learn.”
Nasir with his project team for the summer.
He put the client first.
“The best and the worst part of this internship was working with the client. Our first meeting was really hard because I didn’t know how it would be…she might hate everything and we’d have to start all over. But she enjoyed it thoroughly and that lifted a weight off my shoulders.
Our client wanted us to help improve her social media status across multiple channels. At our final hand-off today, we gave her a manual on how to do all of that. I wanted to make it easy for someone who has less knowledge or experience in social media. So we tried to give her a detailed layout of what to post, when, and why—not just saying, ‘Post this.’”
See the difference that Rêve Academy makes.
Nasir gained both technical and professional skills in his internship—and he didn’t have to pay a cent. In fact, we paid him a fair wage for his work each week, while he learned:
Professional skills
// Empathy
// Authenticity
// Collaboration
// Achievement
// Ingenuity
// Agility
Technical skills
// Premiere Pro
// Photography
// Videography
// Project management
// Agile development
Rêve Academy’s student interns of summer 2018.
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!