My first week was incredibly eye opening. While I am just getting started, I can tell this is going to be an amazing experience. I am interning at one of the partner organizations for Duke Engage Boston, called Citizen Schools. Overall, the organization serves to bridge the opportunity gap faced by lower income students, particularly minority students. Citizen Schools partners with schools and provides them with a variety of services, such as apprenticeships, mentorships, tutoring, and so forth.
Where do I come into play? I am there to help the operations side of the organization. I am doing more clerical based things to ensure that things run smoothly for the organization. As time goes on, they will implement me to more hands on experiences such as interviewing candidates and working directly with staff members.
Something that has surprised me is how well the organization seems to be thriving despite being remote. I think this is largely because school is not in session (so they have more time to brainstorm), and because the organization is national. This is not their first time conducting meetings with people all over the country.
I am most excited about the team I am working on. Education policy is a topic I was already deeply interested in, but my interest is exponentially growing seeing how passionate my mentors are on the matter. My coworkers are incredibly driven, invested, and inspiring. It is also a very diverse organization, so it is awesome working closely with so many successful people that look more like myself. It is amazing seeing the power Citizen Schools has and how much impact they have on students across the US.
I am more worried about my own journey with this experience, and maintaining motivation. I am extremely grateful for having a reason to wake up and a job to keep me motivated throughout the day. I just need to remind myself of that.
As of right now, I do not have any outstanding questions for my organization. They have done a great job on-boarding me.