Dynamy Internship Year

During my time at Dynamy I have had many new and exciting experiences. I had a blast on the Adventure Challenge. I have loved getting to meet new people and I enjoyed all of the Adventure Challenge Activities.

One of my favorite things about living in the city of Worcester is trying out new places to eat with my friends that I met at Dynamy! Learning to live on my own has brought many challenges but I have really enjoyed it! Overall Dynamy has been a great experience, and I would defiantly recommend taking a gap year!

My experience with dynamy so far has been useful to say the least. I’d like to go over each aspect of the program, starting with the 10- day adventure challenge we participated in. We spent the first 3 days doing teambuilding games to get to know each other, and spending those nights in cabins. After the first 2 days were up we headed out to a nearby campsite, where we slept in tents for the next 6 days, while having daily activities such as hiking or canoeing, and playing card games in between. Keep in mind that we weren’t allowed to have any technology during the challenge, so we had to actually get to know each other face to face. After we finished the adventure challenge, we moved into our apartments, where we lived with 5 other people, and shared all our spaces. We each had a roommate who we shared a room with, which for some people was a completely new experience. Every internship at the program was chosen individually for the student, and therefore helped everyone gain experience in their desired field of work. Overall a very good experience that I’d recommend to anyone looking for job experience.

Dynamy is exceptional because of the way they handled COVID. Even through COVID they allowed us to have a social life in a safe way and enjoy our time with our peers. They planned fun activities for spring break, and Easter even though we couldn't be with our families. They made me realize Dynamy is a family and the best non-biological family a girl could ask for. They have so many internship opportunities that allow us to explore interests of all kinds and have hands on experiences. I'm forever grateful, thank you Dynamy.

I really enjoyed all Dynamy had to offer. I definitely made some close friendships here and bonds with supervisors and staff. Additionally, I worked to improve on a lot of life skills from budgeting to time management to boundary setting/apartment living, etc. This gap year was helpful in many ways and I am very glad I took it before jumping right into college in 2020. I think that staff and support were excellent and also very understanding, while also stern enough. My main concern is the area of Worcester. I did feel concerned for my personal safety a couple of times as some of the people near Chandler Street especially were creepy.

I attended Dynamy after being in college for a couple years and still having no clue what I wanted to do afterwards. My adviser helped me explore various internship opportunities and set up interviews. Both internships were great and have helped me shape a plan for my future. The staff is amazing and as involved as you need them to be; I was able to gain more independence but when a difficult life situation arose, they helped me through it and always had my back. My roommates were all amazing and we still keep in touch. Our apartment was spacious and very nice. There is plenty to explore around Worcester from great restaurants to sporting events and concerts, etc. This is a great program for any young adult looking to explore different fields and/or gain life experience.

Great experience to the real world after high school - I was a young graduating student. Outward Bound was a truly amazing experience - it was challenging and invigorating! I highly suggest attending an open house at DIY and going in for a tour of the program - you'll gain more of an idea of the internship year and meet current staff/students! DIY opened my eyes to many things and led to onto my career path/educational path to becoming a successful young woman! I currently work in Human Resources as the Talent Acquisition Specialist for a non-profit organization called YOU, Inc. which DIY is now part of!

As I approached my senior year of high school, it became clear that taking the traditional route and going to college was not right for me. Despite my academic success in high school, I knew I wanted to gain a greater sense of independence with guidance prior to entering college life. A gap year seemed to be in my best interest. For my gap year, I chose to enroll at Dynamy.
For me personally, I decided to go to Dynamy because I wanted to take the time to get a better sense of what career I’d like to pursue and the college courses I would need to take in order to determine my major so that I can achieve my goal. I also wanted to develop even stronger skills that relate to work ethic, time management, and responsibility.
At Dynamy, students are also provided internships to get hands on experience and to investigate different careers. Through this program, I obtained a teaching internship where I learned hands on experience in the classroom. I mastered how to manage a classroom and how to effectively work with students. I also secured an internship learning how to maintain and keep a pottery studio in top shape.
At Dynamy, improved my work ethic, fine-tuned my independent living skills like learning how to budget money for groceries, for transportation, and for other living essentials. I have also learned how to maintain a clean and safe apartment as well as how to live successfully with roommates. Having healthy relationships and communication is extremely important in order to coexist with your roommates, and this is a valuable lesson that has aided me in college dorm living.
Dynamy has also helped me to further develop my social skills. I am social; however, I struggle with finding the balance between my need to be assertive and people taking advantage of my kindness. Dynamy’s staff has helped me to work on these areas through one-on-one counseling and by giving gentle reminders to continue to strive to reach these goals. Something that has really helped me to grow socially is the requirement to attend social events for credit. This has provided an excellent opportunity for me to interact with my peers. These events have increased my confidence in social situations tremendously and I have gained many new friends.
In addition, attending these events has also taught me how to create a positive balance of my work life and social life. Over the course of this semester, I took a class through Clark University and had to learn to find time for studying, attending events, working, and hanging out with friends. While it was a little hectic at times, I learned useful time management strategies to help tame the craziness. I dedicated certain times for exclusively studying and if I knew there was an event or an obligation I had to fulfill, I learned to plan ahead to get work done. I also found it helpful to do a little bit of work each day and not wait to do it all on the weekend before class on Monday. Taking the Clark class certainly was fascinating and gave me a sneak peek into what a college class is like in addition to indirectly teaching me how to manage school and my life outside the classroom.
Taking a gap year at Dynamy was one of the smartest decisions I’ve made. I’ve developed a better understanding of the workforce, myself, and has helped me transition into the college experience. Dynamy’s program allowed me to grow academically, socially, and professionally. With these newfound skills, I am equipped to successfully embark on the college experience and whatever else lies ahead in my future.

My time at Dynamy, working at my internship and just in my apartment, was an amazing opportunity to get a taste of real world life of working a 9 to 5 and managing my life in the apartment. I would highly recommend this to anyone. Though I would also mention that since they do a really good job of portraying real life responsibilities and consequences, that it can be quite frustrating and stressful at times. In my time at Dynamy I was able to cook and clean for myself and house mates and get some amazing experience in the professional work environment.