A Postcard From: Gwen Vandivere ’20

Name: Gwen Vandivere
Class Year: 2020
Major: Philosophy
Hometown: Lewisburg 

Internship Placement: Springboard Collaborative
Job Title: Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship? 

Springboard is a nonprofit focused on closing the literacy gap in American schools. They engage students, teachers, and families in a five-week summer program and an afterschool program during the school year. My internship allowed me to explore different roles in the office such as; HR, sales, operations management, and surveys and data collection. I also got to work with and observe teachers at participating schools while they worked with their scholars during the summer programing.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I wanted to work with children but also have the opportunity to build skills in an office environment.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part about this internship was being exposed to the conditions in various Philadelphia schools and getting to make connections with students as they learned to read.


The hardest part about the internship was fighting boredom; there were days when I had nothing to do for hours. In the beginning it was hard to create things for myself because I was unfamiliar with the things that needed to be done.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

No, not completely. I knew it would be a new experience for me and I would come out of It having learned and grown. But I did not expect it to be both extremely boring some days and very motivating others. I also thought I’d be doing less important things, but I had a big role in the summer process.