The month of May was quiet, which felt right given where we are in the cycle. The 14 interns accepted in April officially started their internships, and it is always exciting to see a new cohort get started. The energy that comes with intern announcements settles into something steadier once the work actually begins, and most of what happens from here belongs to the interns and their mentors.
With internship activity in its early stages, I spent some time this month on the Open Mentorship Handbook, a project that aims to document years of Outreachy’s experience running internships and mentorship in open source. I picked up from existing work already done by the Outreachy team. Excited to see where this work leads.
The quieter pace also gave me space to start thinking about sustainability measures for the next round. After several months of intensive community outreach, onboarding, and contribution period support, it felt like a good time to step back and reflect on what worked well, where things got difficult, and what could be smoother going forward.
I also kept up with general program coordination throughout the month, staying available for mentor and community questions as the internship got underway. The first few weeks of an internship can be a settling-in period for mentors too, and being reachable and responsive is part of making sure things start on the right foot.
Looking ahead, there is plenty to look forward to in terms of seeing what the interns build and the contributions they make to their communities.
Tilda's Thoughts 