Updated 2/6/26

Note from Vicki, 11/16/25:  In November, a high school student gained access to our password-protected materials and contacted Alumni, even admitting that she had inappropriate access.  We removed the lists of Alumni interested in supporting Summer 2026.  Contact Vicki if you need something that's no longer available here. 

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?"  These Scholars are participating in Exploration/Launch Summer 2026.

 

Timeline for Exploration and Launch Summer 2026

  • January 2026:  Drafting, revising
    • Submit an optional draft for review by January 22, 11:59 pm. Follow these guidelines.  Use this updated form.  You will receive a copy of your responses when you submit this form.  If you don't receive a copy, you didn't actually submit it.
  • February 2026: Revising, submitting
    • Revise according to feedback from optional rough draft.
    • If you have applied for summer opportunities and may not know of your status by March 2, you can use this form to request April 1 deadline by February 9, 11:59 PM.  Read the details here.  You must fill out the form and schedule a meeting.
    • Prepare final proposal and budget for submission.  The  Summer 2025 instructions are here--they'll be similar for 2026.
  • March 2026:
    • Submit complete materials as directed here here by March 2. The link in in the Important Documents section below is from Summer 2025--the 2026 version will be similar.  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/September 2026:  Reflecting (again!) and moving forward
    • Complete end-of-summer steps as requested by August 24, 2026
      • You must complete Summer 2026 through reflection before entering the Summer 2027 process.
      • Participate in the All Scholars Community Dinner September --, 2026
      • Attend Sophomore retreat, September ---, 2026
  • September/October 2025:  Reflecting, ideating
    • Talk to Alumni!  This list (ask Vicki) 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.  Vicki's 9/12/25 email contains the details. 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, 5 PM EST.
      • 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 . The 1/22/26 Scholar Bulletin will include the Spring 2026 sign-up info.
    • 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.  Here are the slides.
    • 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 conversations with Alumni, November 2025. Sign up here!
    • What's your path? Where are you on the long road to Summer?
  • December 2025: Drafting

Important documents

Where can you go for ideas and inspiration?

  • Alumni are eager to participate!  Here's a list (NO LONGER AVAILABLE) 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 2026--posted as they are shared with staff

  • New or updated for 2026:
    • Alumna Emily Kian shared this:  Yosemite Healthcare VC Undergraduate Internship - Summer 2026.docx
    • Alumna Jess Edelson works for The Cohen Group , which "provides global business consulting services and advice on tactical and strategic opportunities in virtually every market".  Here's the info. about their summer internships.
    • 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 ---.  (NO LONGER POSTED--ASK VICKI)
    • 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 --- NO LONGER AVAILABLE--ASK VICKI
    • American Dance Festival in Durham offers internships in arts production and administration.
    • Alumnus Lawton Ives (2020) strongly recommends the National Park Service summer internships.  Some internships may be impacted by government funding freezes.
    • Community Empowerment Fund internships in Durham and Chapel Hill.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
  • From 2025
    • 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:  NO LONGER AVAILABLE--ASK VICKI
    • 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.

 

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.