There were hundreds of pieces of paper piled around, and people rushed from room to room, frantically preparing for an onslaught of visitors from around the country and outside of the country.

With only a day left to finalize preparations for the BuildaBridge Institute, interns and staff worked feverishly to ensure that the following week of classes and workshops would run smoothly.

At a morning meeting, duties were handed out, and the official schedule was outlined. International visitors would have to be picked up from the airport and transportation details needed adjusting. Staff voiced their surprise and excitement over the number of participants in this year’s Institute. There would be nearly 60 teachers, artists, youth workers, non-profit personnel and others attending the session at Bryn Mawr College.

But first, a great deal of last-minute work had to be done. Hundreds of pages of itineraries and Institute-related material had to be printed. At the BuildaBridge house, the great room was packed with interns and staff around tables, stuffing binders and making nametags. To guarantee that everything brought from the house to the Institute would make its way back, items from drums and electronics to markers and tape were numbered and inventoried. After months of careful planning and coordination, arrangements culminated in very important busy work. The next day, staff would be heading to the College to complete on-site arrangements before the arrival of the other participants a day later.