Updated 10/30/25

Robertson Summers offer powerful opportunities for transformation for those who open themselves to the possibilities.  The process is based on the familiar questions, "Who am I? What am I committed to? How do I want to grow as a leader? How do I create that opportunity?"

Timeline for Exploration and Launch Summer 2026

  • August/September 2025:  Reflecting
    • Close out Summer 2025!  Review your Summer 2025 reflection and staff feedback for a reminder of what you learned and how you still want to grow. 
    • You must complete Summer 2025 through reflection before entering the Summer 2026 process.
    • Participate in the All Scholars Community Dinner September 4, 2025
    • Read Vicki's September 12 email invitation to Summer carefully
    • Attend Sophomore retreat, September 26-28, 2025
  • September/October 2025:  Reflecting, ideating
    • Talk to Alumni!  This list includes Alumni who have signed up to be available to you–even just for a conversation.  You can ask them anything.  (This list is being updated for Summer 2026 as Alumni sign up in September)
    • Read “Recent Scholar Projects” below, under "Where to go for ideas and inspiration."
    • Invite a Summer Coach to join you. This person will work with you throughout your process.  Read about how Summer Coaches were involved for 2025.
    • Participate in an optional Connecting with a Summer Coach workshop:
      • 9/18, 9:00 am zoom; 9/19, 2:00 pm, UNC office; 9/22, 4:00, zoom; 9/23, 4:00, Griffith Board Room, Bryan Center.
      • These were fun and useful and inspired a group work session Torrey organized for 10/3/25.
    • Enroll in the Summer 2026 process by October 8, 2025.  If you say "yes":
      • You will work with Summer Coach you have identified.
      • You will attend the Summer Possibilities workshop November 6, 2025 (expected for Exploration Summer, invited for Launch Summer)
      • You will complete a Progress Report by December 19, 2025.
      • You will submit a complete proposal and budget by March 2, 2026.
      • You will attend to risk management and travel requirements, such as registering international trips.
      • You will complete end-of-summer steps by August 24, 2026.
    • Consider a Writing Group!  Here's the description . Sign up here so we can start creating the schedule.
    • Consider this statement, from Mikhal Ben-Joseph (2023):  “During the Summer, I would love to _____.”
  • November 2025:  Ideating, generating
    • Scholars preparing for Exploration Summer will attend the Summer Possibilities Workshop November 6 at UNC, 5:30-8:00 PM, including dinner. Launch Summer Scholars are welcome but not required.
    • Do some soul-searching and include people who know you. What’s missing for you? How can Summer 2026 be a chance to open your heart and mind to new places, activities, and experiences?  How can you get to the possibility you declared in the Summer Possibilities Workshop?
    • Optional online coaching sessions with Alumni, November 2025. Sign up here!
    • What's your path? Where are you on the long road to Summer?
  • December 2025: Drafting
  • January 2026:  Drafting, revising
  • February 2026: Revising, submitting
    • Revise according to feedback from optional rough draft.
    • Request April 1 deadline by February 9, if relevant
    • Prepare final proposal and budget for submission.  Instructions are here.
  • March 2026:
    • Submit complete materials as directed here here by March 2.  Here's a document about deliverables.  Let Vicki know you're ready for review.
    • If proposal materials are approved, check will be available end of March.
    • Approval email will include instructions for next steps, such as registering international trips.
  • April 2026: Preparing
    • Submit complete packet of materials by April1, if relevant, as directed here.  Let Vicki know you're ready for review.
    • Proposals and budgets will be reviewed throughout April.
    • Attend Robertson Send-Off April . . .
    • Final preparation of materials: register international trips, find addresses for embassies and health care, etc.
  • May 2026:  Preparing
    • Final preparation of materials.
    • Summer payment for April 1 deadline will be available end of May.
  • May to August 2026:  Summer is here!
    • Staff are available for conversation, support, and affirmation.
    • Do you want to change your Summer plans? Complete this form and email Vicki (stocking@robertscholars.org) to discuss.
    • The offices are quiet.
    • Community Summer dinners in Mississippi, New Orleans, Tarboro, and Whitesburg
  • August 2026:  Reflecting (again!)
    • Complete end-of-summer steps as requested by August 24, 2026.

Important documents

Where can you go for ideas and inspiration?

  • Alumni are eager to participate!  Here's a list of Alumni who signed up to be available to you.  Ask them anything!
  • Watch the Alumni stories at the bottom of this page.  You will be inspired and come away with new ideas for Summer!
  • Check out the Summer 2025 maps in the UNC office. See who went where last Summer, and be inspired! While you're there, look through the travel guides for helpful information and more ideas.
  • Read about recent Scholar projects. Check Robertson Connect for more details about specific projects.

Info for International Travel

 

Resources and Opportunities for 2025--posted as they are shared with staff

  • New or updated for 2026:
    • Alumnus Jakob Blomqvist "was thinking that my firm (Firefly Capital Management) might be an interesting option for sophomore or junior summers interested in remote or in-person investment experience in critical infrastructure. We will likely be in the bay area during that summer. "   Contact Jakob at jakob@fireflymgmt.com.
    • Alumnus Leland Ben connected us to John Kennedy of Lafayette. John writes, "Lafayette is an incubation practice backed by a large hedge fund in New York - we're looking to recruit & train AI business talent and pair them with real world applications and clients. We have technical tracks for students interested in computer science and non-technical tracks for students interested in more general business roles, as if they were looking to go into investment banking, private equity, or consulting."  Here's the one pager .
    • Alumna Abby Gay connected us to her husband, James Goulbourne, who is looking for interns for gunnercooke, an international law firm.  Read his description here. Send a letter of interest and your resume to james.goulbourne@gunnercooke.com.
    • Alumnus Lawton Ives (2020) strongly recommends the National Park Service summer internships.  Some internships may be impacted by government funding freezes.
    • RTI International offers domestic and international internships in social and lab science, engineering, and international development.  May be impacted by government funding freezes.
    • Public Policy and International Affairs program (PPIA) has summer learning opportunities for students interested in public service.
    • American Enterprise Institute offers a Summer Honors Program recommended by Alumni Andrew Sugrue and Matthew Tweden and senior Katelyn Cai.
    • Annunciation House in El Paso has a ten-week summer program to work with refugees.
    • Unite for Sight supports eye clinics worldwide by investing human and financial resources in their social ventures to eliminate patient barriers to eye care. The Global Impact Corps provides year-round health care delivery in Ghana, Honduras, and India and offers summer fellowships.
  • From 2025
  • American Dance Festival in Durham offers internships in arts production and administration.
  • Community Empowerment Fund internships in Durham and Chapel Hill.
  • Ice cream entrepreneurship!  Alumnus Duncan Parsons wrote this to Vicki from Los Angeles: "I started by building an ice cream truck, and now I have a couple of stores plus the trucks/catering business. It has been a blast, and I'm serving New Zealand style "real fruit" ice cream, plus some other famous NZ flavors. If you ever have scholars who might be interested in learning about the business, or spending a summer in Los Angeles as an intern at the business. . .  it's entrepreneurial, a start-up in the food space, really brand and marketing-centric, and we are growing quickly and have a really awesome team. I would enjoy having a scholar here to teach them, expose them to how this sort of business/lifestyle works, and I know they would have a ripping time in Los Angeles. I live and mostly work in Venice Beach and our shops are in Hermosa Beach and El Segundo and we take the ice cream truck all around Los Angeles."  Reach out to Duncan:  duncan@creamyboys.com
  • FLAS fellowships.  Many Robertsons, including Rahel Petros and Eli Hornstein, have participated in the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship program, which is offered through both Duke and UNC.
  • Private equity in Miami.  Alumnus Jakob Blomqvist recently co-founded a new private equity firm (with late Alumnus Mark Laabs) that started investing in 2025. Jakob has invited current Robertsons to reach out if they're interested in participating in this new endeavor Summer 2026 or 26.  Contact him at jakob@fireflymgmt.com.
  • Sticky Feet Production , an independent film production company and startup that creates and distributes co-designed films, is inviting Robertsons to apply for these interesting summer internships.
  • Student Action with Farmworkers, a longtime partner to the Robertson program, offers an outstanding summer internship program.  Alumni Professor Chris Paul and Dr. Nandini Kumar highly recommend this experience!  Carolina Mendez and Nancy Garcia Villa (2026) are currently interns with SAF.

 

Additional Resources

(A few) Third-party providers  These organizations provide opportunities for interactions that are hard to create as an individual, particularly in international medical, educational, or other settings. Some offer valuable opportunities to learn about new places.  (This list doesn't indicate RSLP endorsement, although Scholars have worked with all of them.)

Transferable Skills Worksheet     This will help you organize and articulate the skills you have and those who you want to gain through Summers.