Our Summer Internship: Voice, Community, and Leadership

INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW Written by The Practice Space

The Practice Space had the honor of hosting three interns this summer, provided by Richmond Promise, one of our longest community partners. Our team was intentional in our program design, striving to create a well-rounded experience that would foster the interns’ growth as speakers, leaders, and young professionals. The curriculum was curated by The Practice Space’s Chief Program Officer, Moneek Bhanot, and maintained a marketing focus, facilitated by our Sr. Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Taylor Berberich. Interns were placed in our summer programs to gain hands-on experience with our youth work, and attended weekly professional development workshops to build necessary career and leadership skills.

We couldn’t be more grateful to Richmond Promise for making this internship program possible, and for our amazing interns who are such kind, brilliant, and capable individuals. Their impact shaped The Practice Space in so many ways, and we’re so glad to hear it had a similar effect on them. Read below to learn more about their experience!

MY VOICE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE Written by Samantha

When I started my internship at The Practice Space, I honestly thought it would just be me helping with marketing tasks like social media or research. While I definitely learned and strengthened those skills, I ended up leaving with so much more than I could’ve expected. Every task and assignment reminded me that communication was more than just getting the message across but it was about making people feel seen, heard, and want to take action. Whether it was researching data or creating a marketing campaign, I realized that every choice had the ability to make an impact on our audience.

This internship also helped me become more confident in using my own voice. At first, I felt a little bit hesitant to share my ideas because I felt “I’m only a college student, I don’t have that much experience,” but over time I felt a lot more comfortable pitching into conversations and trusting my voice. I also learned that leadership didn’t mean being the loudest person in the room. It’s about listening, asking questions, and finding ways to contribute. During this internship, I was shown that even behind a computer screen, my voice can make a difference and that is something that I will continue to carry with me.

UPLIFTING MY COMMUNITY Written by Valerie

Through The Practice Space internship, I was able to practice using my voice to uplift my community. I had the opportunity to work alongside TPS coaches and work with K-8th students this summer where they learned how to express themselves through weekly meetings on how to use their voice though fun and engaging lesson plans. Working for them has encouraged me to step up as a leader to support those who are still learning and strengthening their ability to use their own voice. I was able to first handedly witness the growth of many over the course of 8 weeks. Furthermore, this internship has offered support with professional development. I was able to learn how to connect my own values through my work, how to connect with others and opportunities through social networks, along with being able to learn about creating marketing campaigns alongside two amazing fellow interns, where we worked independently and collaboratively to reach out to our community!

MY LEARNING EXPERIENCE Written by Michelle

I first heard about The Practice Space during my time in high school at Leadership Public Schools Richmond, where they offered onsite programming for students, but I never got the chance to join any of their programming. As my internship comes to an end, I’m filled not only with gratitude for the organization but also with regret. I have learned so much over the summer, but I can only imagine how much more I could have gained if I had given myself the opportunity to join The Practice Space during high school.

Through my time with The Practice Space, I have had the opportunity to assist with their programming at a Richmond summer camp by supporting both the coaches in their facilitation of classrooms and working with students by helping them refine their speeches and ideas. Another focus of the internship included data input, a marketing project, professional development workshops, and so much more.

Through these PD workshops, I was not only able to become more familiar with the staff and other interns but also reflect more on myself and professional aspirations. The most challenging part of all was trying to sum up all my passions, values, and goals in just a couple words and sentences. I was treating the questions as if I had to have my whole life figured out in a matter of minutes. But after multiple conversations I realized that as I spent more time on things that I didn’t know, my progress became stagnant, and instead I should be focused on what I do know. Through this internship I have become more comfortable with the idea of not having everything figured out, and while I may not know where I want to be in 5 years, what I do know is that I value community and inclusion and will do whatever I can to make those things a possibility.

REFLECTING AND LOOKING AHEAD Written by Samantha, Valerie, and Michelle

We as interns are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to have been able to work with both The Practice Space and our Richmond community. The work that The Practice Space is doing is not just important but personal because as students from the WCCUSD, we’ve personally witnessed the impact on how students built confidence over the span of weeks through debate, storytelling, public speaking, pitches, and learning about Congress to strengthen both learning and confidence. As our journey comes to an end, we know that we will carry this experience not just throughout our future careers but wherever our voice is needed.

Thanks for reading,
Samantha, Valerie, Michelle