Summer as a Teen Intern

By: Jade Mitchell, incoming UNT Freshman - Fall 2022

The teen intern experience this summer has been nothing short of amazing. This year we were given the chance to explore many new exciting possibilities within this organization and within ourselves. We have been given the opportunity to excel in our strengths and learn about ourselves internally. 

My first assignment? To create a blog and document the For Oak Cliff summer!. As an Black teen, you are not always given the chance to express your opinions  So I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to cultivate my thoughts and put them on paper to share with the world! 

My Favorite Programs! Dallas Wings

The Professional Development week, powered by Dallas Wings, was a great kickstart to the summer. It allowed me to grow myself in the professional world. I learned important things that I have never been taught in school. The Dallas Wings hosted mock interviews and was able to create a new resume, a LinkedIn, and a vision board.
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I also enjoyed the Wellness Wednesday program!  It allowed me to learn about myself the most. Led by our supervisor, Courtney Thomas (Community Encourager Manager),  it involved a lot of deep diving into myself and my mindset to essentially help me understand myself better. While learning to understand myself, it has also shown me different perspectives. Hearing different perspectives from my colleagues has allowed me to see things from their point of view and has helped me analyze why I think the way I think.

​15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership & 4 For The Future

 Another program that I believe has improved my mentality is our podcast on the book, “15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership.”  After reading this book, I discovered I am below the line on some things. 

15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership & 4 For The Future

 Another program that I believe has improved my mentality is our podcast on the book, “15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership.”  After reading this book, I discovered I am below the line on some things. Discussing the commitments in the podcast allowed me to comprehend what the book was presenting with my colleagues. A goal of mine is now to progress into becoming a conscious leader. I want to stay above the line in all aspects of my life.

I also enjoyed the 4 For The Future program! The main focus of this program are the 4 pillars of life; time management, emotional intelligence, grit, and college/career readiness. I have recognized that these pillars are important to my development. I have started using some of the techniques Mr. Will introduced to help my time management, and I can already see improvement. I believe all of these programs combined have grown my emotional intelligence. I am not mentally the same person I was last summer. 

Intern Lock In

Along with all of the personal growth I experienced during work time, I also got to grow during our events and trips. Our first event was the Lock-In. It was a great bonding experience for everyone as a team. We played games together such as hide and seek, laser tag, and card games. I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to get to know so many amazing people and have the chance to build relationships with all of the teens. 

From Da’ Cliff to the Da’ Capitol: Our Trip to UT Austin

After the lock-in, we took a trip to Austin to visit the beautiful University of Texas at Austin campus. This was a good experience that allowed everyone to see what a college campus had to offer. We got to take a full tour guided by our wonderful intern, Nia, who will be attending UT Austin in the fall. I learned some history about the statues built around the UT campus and signs on the walls that had history on them. We even got to bowl at the Underground Union. After we left UT Austin, we saw history in the making. We visited the first black-owned business on South Congress , which was a gym named Kollective owned by Jeremy Hills. He personally gave us a tour of his whole facility and afterwards left us with grains of knowledge that helped him get where he is today. It was good to see someone come from a similar background as our team and see them making history. He is an inspiration.

Dallas Zoo

We were able to go to the Dallas Zoo and take an in depth tour around the whole place. We got to see a lot of animals you wouldn’t normally see, feed some animals, see the behind the scenes of the elephant habitat, and explore their new animal hospital. It was a nice experience and I can’t wait to go back. My favorite part of this experience was petting and brushing the goats. They were so calm and cute and I would sit there with them all day if I had the chance to. 

Cabin Trip: Destination Oklahoma

Our last adventure together was traveling to Oklahoma. Once we arrived the cabin was beautiful. The first thing we did was an IdentiTREE. I enjoyed this project because it allowed me to look deeper into myself, rather than just surface level. After that we played an energizer, which I won, and that was a good bonding experience to start the trip off with. The whole team was so competitive and it was fun to watch each other during games. After that we had a delicious dinner made by Ms. Sydney, and afterwards we got to have discussions that were needed in my opinion. We got to open up and speak our pieces. After that, some of us hung out in the jacuzzi and continued discussions. The second day we woke up and immediately did yoga. That was my first time ever doing yoga and it was so refreshing. I will definitely be doing it again when I get the chance. After we ate and played another game, we headed back out and went to Shenaniganz. This place was extremely fun and I’m grateful we were able to continue to enjoy ourselves after Oklahoma. 
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This has been the best summer ever and I will forever be grateful that they chose me to work here this summer. I will be going to college this month, but I will make sure to come back any chance I can. I also want to say thank you to Ms. Courtney for everything she did for the teen interns this summer.