Sophomore Service Leadership Internship

The Sophomore Service Leadership Internship is a summer opportunity for rising juniors to work with non-profit organizations while earning a stipend and learning the businesses where they are employed.  The application for 2023 is now open.  Keep reading for detailed instructions.

Internship Recipients

Thanks to everyone who submitted fantastic applications and held meaningful interviews.  The applicants were fantastic in every way, and the passion and attention to the process and mostly the dedication to making our city and our world a better place for all is greatly appreciated.

The following boys are the 2023 Sophomore Summer Service Leadership Interns:
  • Thompson Adams at Youth Encouragement Services
  • Edwin Bass at W.O. Smith Music School
  • Sayan Dalai at Urban Housing Solutions
  • Jake Dorfman at Operation Stand Down Tennessee
  • Jack Smithwick at Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigration Services
  • Claiborne Tompkins at Room in the Inn
Congratulations, gentlemen, and thank you to our non-profit community partners and to the Sliva Family, without whom this program would not be possible.

    • Room in the Inn

      Colin Durelli

My time at Room in the Inn consisted of countless life changing experiences and lessons that I learned throughout the summer. Out of all the lessons I learned, the most important one is to treat our neighbors as ourselves. It is important that no matter our backgrounds, we respect our neighbors. A community based on respect, is one that will strive for a life-time.

The experience of working with Room in the Inn this summer meant everything to me. From helping the participants with mail and laundry, to just talking and playing a game, the moments I spent at Room in the Inn taught me valuable lessons I intend to keep with me for the rest of my life.

With the help of this experience, I plan to spread awareness to others. It is important for everyone to help out their community and neighbors in need. I also plan to continue helping our neighbors in need and hope to be back with RITI as soon as I can. I hope that I will be able to continue MBA’s involvement with the organization with the help from the community here on the Hill. This group is extremely important to our neighbors here in the Nashville community who need assistance from others, and I believe that MBA and its community can be a huge addition to the ever growing RITI family. 

    • Second Harvest Food Bank

      Jude Bueno

Over the summer, I was given the opportunity to work as a summer intern at Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. During my six weeks, my days consisted of helping manage volunteers at the food bank and sorting the thousands of pounds of food that come to Second Harvest's warehouse everyday. While working at Second Harvest, I was able to see how influential Second Harvest is in the Nashville community. We regularly supplied many other non-profits with sorted food that was later given to those struggling with the issues of hunger and food insecurity.  I was also able to see how many people within the Nashville community are struggling with food insecurity. 1 in 8 adults and 1 in 7 children go to bed hungry in the Middle Tennessee area.

Coming back to MBA, I hope that I can raise awareness for these issues of hunger and food insecurity while also finding solutions to them as well. I would like to thank all of my coworkers for helping guide me during my internship and educate me about food insecurity. 
 

    • Urban Housing Solutions

      Charlie McIntyre

Recently, I completed my internship with Urban Housing Solutions, and it was a great experience that I really enjoyed.
I worked each day in the heart of East Nashville and had the privilege of calling residents at UHS daily to check up on how they were doing. During my internship, I called over a thousand residents and helped many with any maintenance needs or anything else they needed. On top of that, I was able to go to many of the properties UHS owned and see firsthand the quality of the housing residents were living in. This helped me better resonate with the people I called and changed my perception of what “Affordable Housing” really is.

At the end of June, I was able to attend a Last Saturday Dinner. Last Saturday Dinners are a monthly event that brings together the community at UHS’ Mercury Court location, and I enjoyed talking to people I had called and meeting family of the residents.
Throughout my time at Urban Housing, I learned about the big role affordable housing plays in the community and how crucial it is to our city. I’m thankful for the staff who were passionate about what they did and were committed to solving Nashville’s housing problems. I am very thankful to UHS for giving me this opportunity and encourage any Sophomore to apply.

    • Youth Encouragement Services

      William Dean

My internship at Youth Encouragement Services was on of the best experiences I have had at MBA.  Being the overwhelming minority, racially and socioeconomically, was a truly unique experience for me, and I am thankful for the change to spend my summer with some of the most amazing kids in Nashville.  Although I did simple housekeeping duties and helped prepare meals, most of my time was spent acting as a counselor for their summer camp, playing basketball, chess and enjoying all of their field trips to water parks as much as they did.  

I am forever grateful that I had this opportunity, and I recommend that future students take advantage of it.  I learned the invaluable lesson that love and patience can overcome any boundary.  Thank you, MBA.

To get an idea what the summer is like, listen to last year's interns.

    • Operation Stand Down Tennessee

      Conner Looney

This summer I spent six weeks interning at Operation Stand Down, which focuses on helping veterans in need. After the first two days of doing somewhat boring work, I feared I had made a mistake in choosing the internship, but then I went on a delivery trip. Despite living in the same city as many of the veterans we helped, I had never really gotten to see first hand what poverty looks like, but on the first delivery trip I took I realized just how dire the situation is for some of the veterans. Seeing the conditions they live in both made me grateful for my own living situation, but it also made me realize the responsibility we have to help them. The people that I got to serve while at Operation Stand Down had risked their lives to protect us, and the work that I did this summer pales in comparison to the sacrifices that the veterans made for us. 

As far as the actual internship went, it was a very relaxed yet professional environment where I quickly felt appreciated. I spent about half of my time there making deliveries and actually getting to go to the homes of the veterans, and the other half was spent packing food bags or doing small jobs around the office. My six weeks at Operation Stand Down provided me with both experience in a work environment as well as perspective of how other people outside our MBA community live. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and would highly recommend the internship for any rising juniors. 

Montgomery Bell Academy

4001 Harding Road
Nashville, TN 37205
(615) 298-5514