This week, we asked our Middle School director, Julie Kelly-Detwiler, to share a favorite story that illustrates a moment of joyful discovery when an idea really clicks and the “aha!” epiphany brings new life to learning.
Julie’s Internship Story
Adolescence is a time of trying things on, making the theory real, taking a step closer to adulthood. Internships are a big part of this, and we see them make real leaps in their learning and self-confidence from the start to the end of the process.
We help our Middle School students craft their first resumes, and delight with them as they look with pride on their accumulated accomplishments. We discuss writing, punctuation, and word choice as they write their letters of introduction. We practice phone interviews and follow-up calls and watch students who said, “I could never do that” become focused and poised as they push themselves through their first cold call.
And we watch students walk with trepidation into our adult world on an internship and—Aha!—stride back to our school community with new found confidence, insights and a slightly altered view of themselves and their relationship to the world.
[This post originally appeared in Rhythm & News, the Inly School newsletter, on May 15, 2009.]