Celebrating National Intern Day: How a Lenovo Internship Sparked Meaningful Summer Growth

Young people know all too well the challenges of launching a career in today’s workforce. July 30, National Intern Day, is as good a time as any to remember that a degree alone often isn’t enough to stand out — employers increasingly want to see real, hands-on experience before a candidate ever walks in the door for a full-time interview.

That’s exactly why work-based learning has become such a critical part of preparing students for the careers ahead of them. The earlier students start building that experience — and the resume, network, and confidence that come with it — the stronger their foundation for everything that follows, whether that’s a competitive college application or their first job offer after graduation.

Now, more than ever, stories like Maria’s are so important to share and worth celebrating this National Intern Day. A NAF student in the IT and Engineering academies at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School in North Carolina, she is currently completing a summer internship with long-standing NAF partner, Lenovo.

It’s comprehensive internship experiences like these that make up the work-based learning component of the NAF design —alongside job shadowing, site visits, and project-based learning such as KnoPro. The duration and internal work nature of an experience like the one Maria is currently engaged in with Lenovo not only offers the chance to learn new skills, but also to work as part of a team, build rapport alongside peers and with a mentor and manager, and complete more complex projects.

From Classroom to Real-World Implementation

Beyond learning new skills and establishing rapport (and having some fun) with her teammates, mentors and fellow interns, summer interns at Lenovo complete in-depth projects that contribute to real company objectives. Maria’s main project this summer was creating an automated process to collect server inventory information for Lenovo’s EveryScale Lab — work that required her to learn entirely new tools and skillsets, including Linux and Confluent. The work was challenging at first, but Maria embraced every opportunity to ask questions, learn from her mentors, and build real confidence in her technical abilities.

“Learning a host of new technologies like Linux and Confluent was challenging at first, but I learned a lot by asking questions, communicating, and trying new things. My manager and my team have been really supportive and patient, and they always encourage me to learn.”

Lenovo has also offered Maria the chance to connect with mentors (including her manager) who are all able to help her with day-to-day tasks as well as reflect on the challenges and rewards of the internship so far. “I’ll definitely be sad to say goodbye at the end of the internship!” she adds.

How NAF Prepared Her for the Opportunity

Maria credits her NAF academy with helping her prepare for the internship long before she ever applied. Resume and interview support gave her the tools to put her best foot forward, while foundational work-based learning experiences helped her build the communication skills that mattered just as much as the technical ones, once she was on the job.

Those experiences turned out to be invaluable throughout the summer, giving Maria the confidence to collaborate with her manager and teammates, ask for guidance when she needed it, and grow comfortable navigating a professional environment for the first time.

“My NAF teachers have always emphasized the importance of communication and that we have to take ownership of what we don’t understand or need help with and ask for what we need—it’s been a big part of my education up until now and has been a foundation to fall back on throughout the internship experience,” Maria said.

Why Work-Based Learning Matters — Especially Right Now

Maria’s experience reflects exactly what the research says about the value of work-based learning for high school students.

Students who complete internships report real, measurable gains — Eastern Washington University found that 76% of former interns left feeling confident in their career readiness, with 90% reporting stronger communication skills and 87% reporting stronger problem-solving skills as a direct result.

But the interest is not latent until college, indeed high school students are eager to get experience sooner rather than later. According to research from Britebound (formerly ASA) found in 2022 that 79% of high school students say they’re interested in work-based learning, only 34% are even aware such opportunities exist for students their age — and just 2% actually complete an internship. That gap is exactly why partnerships like the one between NAF and Lenovo matter: they don’t just give one student a great summer; they close a real access gap for students who might never otherwise get in the door at a company like Lenovo.

Looking Ahead

As Maria heads into her senior year, the experience has only reinforced her passion for technology — she’s now planning to pursue a degree in computer science or software engineering. As her internship comes to a close, Maria hopes other students won’t hesitate to apply for internships of their own. Her advice: stay curious, ask questions, and take advantage of every opportunity that can help shape your future.

“Don’t be afraid to apply for an internship that looks exciting and don’t be afraid of what you don’t know; being unafraid to ask questions is the best way to learn. We all have to start somewhere.”

Looking for a meaningful way to thank your internship supervisor? Start with this checklist:

• Write a thank you note to your supervisor/manager and anyone else who was helpful to you during your internship. Examples are linked here!
• Update your resume and LinkedIn profile with your internship experience.
• Add a reminder in your calendar for later this fall to reach out to your supervisor/manager to update them about your progress. Keeping in touch is very important!

Happy National Intern Day to current interns across the country and to every student turning classroom learning into real-world experience this summer!