The Afterschool for All Challenge: From an Intern's Perspective

Afterschool Alliance intern Vicky Gutridge shows her support for afterschool at the Challenge.

The past two weeks spent here at the Afterschool Alliance have been wonderful to say the least. I have learned so much—whether it be how to fix a paper jam on the office printer, or help teach youth what advocacy is. I began my Senior Project on April 30, which I’ve heard countless times was “the perfect time for me to start because it was the week before the Challenge!”

My first week spent mostly preparing for the Afterschool for All Challenge: running to Kinkos, creating fact sheets and stuffing folders. The Challenge was last Tuesday, and I worked with Shaun and Trevor in the Youth Session. We started off the day learning about advocacy, and what an advocate is. Turns out anyone can be an advocate! Then, after lunch, we met Pobo. He’s only 15 but he’s one of the most impressive people I’ve ever met. In preparation for the Capitol Hill meetings, I assisted the youth in making custom leave-behinds for each Congressional office they went to. My main role during this portion was helping create tweets for the youth to send. Before starting at the Afterschool Alliance I never realized how large a role social media played in the political world. It was awesome to see the tweets the youth wrote on the screen, as well as tweets I had written for Sarah prior to the Challenge.

Before I knew it the day was over. While the Challenge was a very hectic time, I think it was a great experience that allowed me the opportunity to gain insight as to where I may see myself in the future.

So now I’m sitting here with 59.5 of my 60 hours complete on my last official day of Senior Project, and I’m sad to see it end. I’ve had a fantastic time here these past two weeks. I’ve met so many amazing people, and I couldn’t have asked for a better Senior Project. I can’t wait to come back over the summer and intern again. Thanks so much, Afterschool Alliance!