This month, we welcomed 26 new interns to the Outreachy program. It marks the culmination of months of work by coordinators, applicants, mentors, and organizers. The internship officially begins on June 2, and I’m excited to meet our interns and support them on their journey. But the work doesn’t stop here, this marks the start of the internship cycle, and organizers have been laying the groundwork to ensure a smooth start.
One area we’ve been actively discussing is revising our blog prompts, especially the first one. Currently, the prompt for the first blog post asks interns to reflect on their core values, a thoughtful way to get to know them. However, we’ve identified an opportunity to improve this prompt by also asking about their motivations for applying to Outreachy, what kept them going through the multi-step application process, and what they hope to gain from the internship. Asking why our interns applied to the program helps us better understand their drive and goals. I’m really excited to read their blogs.
We’ve also been working on improving the feedback forms that mentors use. Over the past few cohorts, we’ve noticed a gap between what organizers expect in feedback and what mentors typically provide. To address this, I reviewed common mentor pain points when filling out feedback forms and compared them to our internal expectations. Our goal is to revise the forms to offer clearer guidance on what to include, helping mentors better understand what’s helpful to share.
In preparation for the internship start, we’ve added all mentors, coordinators, and interns to the Zulip server and sent out the necessary invitations. Our first intern chat is scheduled for June 3, and we’ve invited mentors, interns, and alumni to join the conversation. I’m looking forward to seeing how this goes!
Every internship cycle brings new lessons, along with its own set of challenges. Whether it’s refining our processes, responding to evolving community needs, or adjusting to funding constraints, we’re continuously learning and adapting. Despite these hurdles, I’m excited for what this round will bring—and grateful to be part of a program that is so committed to inclusion and growth.
Tilda's Thoughts 