REDS Blog

RPCS strives to provide students with opportunities for hands-on work experience, so many students choose to do summer internships (40 hours) or fellowships (80 hours), either during the summer or during the school year. This year for my summer internship, I chose to be a volunteer TA for STARTALK, a summer Chinese course. 

STARTALK is a summer language intensive funded by the NSA for high school students, in which they take 1 semester of college-level Chinese from July-August. My role as a volunteer TA was to help both levels of the course run smoothly; this meant providing tutoring, helping students with speaking, homework help, planning cultural activities, and organizing their final speaking exam.

I loved every second of this experience for a variety of reasons:

1. I got to share my love of Chinese with other students and teachers who were also passionate about the language! 
2. It allowed me to fully immerse myself in Chinese. I spent multiple hours each day in a room where Chinese was the only language used, which not only forced me to work on my Chinese skills but also to make sure I was communicating effectively so that everyone could understand. 
3. The connections and bonds that were made in the class! I loved meeting so many new people and developing relationships with not only my fellow teachers but also my students. One of my favorite memories was when our class went to an authentic Chinese hot pot restaurant. It was great to see all of the work and discussions we had in the classroom pay off in a real word situation. 

RPCS gave me the skills and knowledge that allowed me to succeed in this internship. One of the most basic skills being the confidence to apply. At RPCS, you are encouraged to take risks and are always given a handful of opportunities, no matter what your interests are, RPCS will encourage you to explore them in and out of the classroom.