#GiveBackAndGo is a competitive service learning internship opened to students nation-wide, designed to give students a unique opportunity to serve in communities abroad. In previous years, Chegg has partnered with ONE.org to send students to Africa and Pencils of Promise to send students to NYC and Guatemala. This summer, the Chegg Foundation partnered with Me to We to take 10 interns to Ecuador for two weeks. Every student has to earn their spot by showing their commitment to service in their current communities. The goal of #GiveBackAndGo is for the students to take what they learn abroad and apply it to their education and community service back home, then showcase their stories so that others can learn from their experience.
What makes #GiveBackAndGo unique is that students must earn their spot on the trip. Promoted to students nation-wide through social media and email to the millions of students in the Chegg network, anyone over 16 years old that is currently in high school or college can apply. The first step of the application is for students to submit a 500-word essay about their service in their current communities, and what it means to them to do good. The thousands of essays are then reviewed by a panel, and the top 50 and ties moved on to the second phase where they were asked to create a video talking about why they should be a Chegg Foundation intern. Students then rally their network to vote on their video, and the videos are also reviewed and scored by the panel. The panel then interviews the final 15 students, and 10 interns are selected.
Another special aspect of #GiveBackAndGo is that one employee from Chegg is always selected to attend the trip. They apply, just like the students, and Chegg asks the partner (in this case, Me to We), to select the participant. Employees are also chosen based on their commitment to service and doing good in the community.
The overall #GiveBackAndGo campaign received 13 million impressions, and thousands of entries. But the real success is the outcome of the trip, which we are still in the process of telling each student's story through the Chegg Foundation and Chegg Play channels. Here are just some of the highlights from the students:
"The trip to Ecuador was the best experience of my life. It really opened my eyes to what's going on all around the world, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of all the people I met while there." – student intern
"My time in Ecuador as a Chegg Foundation intern was so amazingly impactful and educational. I will cherish my experience for the rest of my life. I have already begun implementing perspectives and skills I gained with in my major-focused service at school" – student intern
