When Chris and I created this internship we reviewed literature about similar internships. We discussed mission and vision statements. We discussed objectives and measures of success. After meeting with Dr. Judith Ned, we ultimately decided to focus on one overarching goal. We wanted to make sure these 1st Generation students left our internship "Lovin' Libraries!"


Intern farewell ceremony. Photo credit: Wayne Vanderkuil

To that end, we planned activities to make them comfortable with library resources at Stanford and at their schools. We planned activities to help them realize the vast support resources available on campus. We planned activities to allow employees to get acquainted with them and to build relationships. 

Sadly, three interns (Samantha Castaneda, Joseph Thornton, and Ivory Brown) have already left. Luckily, we still have four interns (Heyab Chocol, Mia Kirkendoll, Abraham Tewolde, and Jazmin Contreras) until the end of this week.

As the internship drew to a close, we realized that we needed more time to spend getting to know the interns individually. We tried to remedy this with a few lunches for smaller groups before their last week. August 16th seemed so far away when they began working on June 3rd.  Unfortunately, time flies when you're having fun.

It seems like just yesterday when they arrived on campus. It was just a few weeks ago that the girls were at the SUL picnic singing Bruno Mars songs (to the disdain of poor Abraham). I can still hear their laughter as they created Talking Tom videos for one of the interns who was not at the picnic. It seems like they were just having lunch at the Faculty Club and quoting funny lines from movies and other inside jokes that we all shared over the summer. We will miss their smiling faces, their eagerness to learn, as well as their valuable contributions to their assigned tasks.

Chris Bourg, Veronica Rubalcava, and Felicia Smith at farewell ceremony.
Photo credit: Wayne Vanderkuil

The most bittersweet activity was the Farewell Ceremony which was held on August 1st. Veronica Rubalcava, aka our “Super Intern,” planned this really touching and heartfelt event. She arranged for a couple of pleasant surprises for Chris to show our appreciation for her unwavering and genuine dedication to the interns. One of the surprises was the group photo taken on their first day. The frame around the photo was signed by all the interns. Veronica also created personalized (bedazzled) framed certificates of completion for each intern. 

 
Veronica Rubalcava presents photo to Chris Bourg.
Photo credit: Wayne Vanderkuil.

Best of all, Veronica suggested that the interns create a video about their internship to show not only what they learned but to showcase their personalities as well. She worked very hard with all the interns to create the video. The interns not only starred in the video but also helped edit it. 

The video is a glimpse into their internship. Each one has repeatedly said they would really like to return next year. Our goal was to make sure these interns left us "Lovin' Libraries!"

Mission Accomplished.