As the seasons change, so too do the faces atop the hard-working bodies around the GiveForward office. In other (much better) words, a new crop of interns has arrived for the summer, and we want to get electronically acquainted with the site’s users.

In order to make this happen, I conquered my fear of talking to women and chatted up each of the ladies surrounding me in the trenches. And when I say I chatted them up, I mean I e-mailed them all a questionnaire and then used/butchered their responses to shape the following bios.

Also, to liven things up a bit, we’ve decided to play a little game with you all that some of you may be familiar with: “Two Truths and a Lie.” Essentially, each of us will give three one-sentence-long statements about ourselves or our lives. Two of these statements will be completely true, and one will be at least partially false. The first person to correctly pick out the lie from each intern by July 12 will get a FREE Giveasaurus t-shirt! To compete, you may submit your guesses as a comment on this blog, via e-mail at dshar@giveforward.org, or on our Facebook page.

In the event that nobody spots all of the lies, the T-shirt will go to the earliest submission with the highest number of correct picks. At the completion of this contest, we will provide you all with brief explanations or stories behind the ridiculous truths contained herein because wow, they are necessary.

Rachel Blau
Fundraising Coach Extraordinaire

*Rachel missed our photoshoot, so Olivia used Photoshop.

Rachel is a Columbia College Chicago alumna by way of Wauconda/Lake Zurich, IL. She may have a B.A. in Fiction Writing, but she doesn’t seem to be fabricating anything when she says she enjoys dancing and cooking (presumably at separate times). Rachel loves Chicago and prefers it to the northwest suburbs she came from because in the city, “there is such varying opportunity for culture and excitement, no matter what neighborhood.” Rachel says she has had “quite an eclectic past of music,” but lists some of her current favorites as Erykah Badu, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Common, Alkaline Trio, Rodrigo y Gabriella, Sean Paul, James Brown, Shakira, and RX Bandits.

When prompted for two truths and a lie, Rachel gave me the following:

1) I’ve consumed an entire can of tomato juice in one day on more than one occasion.

2) I have an extreme allergic reaction to bananas.

3) I took a class and have knowledge in the field of holography.

Courtney Goldman
Fundraising Coach Extraordinaire

Courtney hails from Buffalo Grove, IL and is heading into her junior year at Vanderbilt University. There, she is pursuing a dual degree in Human and Organizational Development, which she says is “jibberish for business,” and Spanish, which she says is “code for Chipotle appreciation.” Courtney thinks Chicago is “a big upgrade from the suburbs,” and she fancies herself “a professional spectator for the White Sox, Bears, and Hawks.” Courtney’s favorite musicians, which she lazily copy-pasted from her Facebook page, are The Beatles, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kings Of Leon, Diplo, Lupe Fiasco, MGMT, Drake, Kid Cudi, deadmau5, Major Lazer, Miike Snow, Steve Aoki, Passion Pit, The Fully Sick Rapper, Florence and the Machine, The Killers, Chairlift, and Fleet Foxes.

When prompted for two truths and a lie, Courtney gave me the following:

1) Judge Judy is my grandpa’s second cousin.

2) I’ve seen the Catwoman in real life (if you are brave, do a Google image search for Jocelyn Wildenstein).

3) I’ve kissed a giraffe (and I likeeeed itttt; thank you Katy Perry).

Olivia Murphy
Fundraising Coach Extraordinaire

Olivia is about to be a senior at the University of North Carolina, where she is double majoring in English and Religious Studies, minoring in Physics, and has the nerve to write “No questions about that, please.” Olivia is originally from Monroe, NC, “where the question of population is answered with ‘of cows or people?’”

Now I want to warn you all that this bio is about to get way longer than the others, but I am not apologizing for this because when I asked Olivia to expand on whether she prefers Chicago or her hometown, she went on the following rant that is simply too good not to include in its entirety:

“The first thing that comes to mind is that in Monroe directions are simple. If you ask someone where a place is, you get something real specific like ‘Oh you wanna go to the Dairy-O? Oh that’s real simple – just go up here to the stop sign and make a right; at the end of the next fence you’ll see a big barn with [what time is it? 4:15? yeah, so the cows will still be outside] with some cows in front. You’ll take a left. Then you take that dirt road till it ends, about 1/4 mile, take a right on Buford and she should be right there on your right-hand side. And tell Bill I said hello while you’re there.’ And if you get lost, chances are Jim Bob will still be sitting outside that same convenience store and you can just try again. Everybody tends to know quite a few other people, and most are often some kind of related. It’s cozy, very home-y; and I NEVER get lost in Monroe.

In Chicago if I ask for directions and am lucky enough to not get ignored or run away from, I get something like ‘go two blocks East then head North until you see the 7-11, you should see it from there…’ and I never know which way is East or where to turn and, though those 7-11’s can be VERY convenient sometimes, sheer quantity makes them both impractical as landmarks for directions, and apparently a favorite for business-persons or street-walkers who have a passion for providing what always seem to be the most ambiguous directions or ‘help’ they can muster.”

After completing her navigation-based venting, Olivia did clarify that she is otherwise in love with Chicago because of its ability to constantly entertain her. In her words, “There are days where the El has more excitement than my entire hometown would in a month.” When she’s not getting lost, Olivia is usually exercising, cooking, or watching sports. Also, she likes to lash out at me for asking who her favorite musical artists are. Apparently, when the time comes for her to get her groove on, she relies on a mix of personalized Pandora stations. “Except for Bruce Springsteen (who I happen to be in love with), I NEED the excitement and randomness of ‘shuffle’ in my life.”

When prompted for two truths and a lie, Olivia gave me the following:

1) I am on the UNC boxing team.

2) I’ve never had any food delivered to me.

3) I’ve never seen Forrest Gump all the way through.

Sarah Seely
Fundraising Coach Extraordinaire

Sarah comes to us all the way from a little town outside of Boston, MA and just graduated from DePaul University with a “lucrative” Sociology degree. Sarah says Chicago is a lot cooler than her hometown, and she especially enjoys how much the people here appreciate summer. She lists some of her hobbies as riding her bike, sitting in parks, reading books, and eating food. Good news Sarah: aside from the food and the books, those are all things you’ll probably be able to enjoy with your lucrative degree. Sarah cites her favorite musical acts as Stevie Wonder, Andrew Bird, Florence + the Machine, and Otis Redding. Perhaps more than those artists however, Sarah loves her bosses, telling me, “GiveForward is the bomb. Truthfully and honestly, if it wasn’t for Ethan and Desiree, I’d probably be back at home, living in my parents basement.” Amen, sister. Amen.

When prompted for two truths and a lie, Sarah gave me the following:

1) I once drank out of Snoop Dogg’s pimp chalice when I was 14.

2) Pretzels are the only food I refuse to eat.

3) I’m a natural blonde.

Daniel Shar
Blogger, Social Media Attempter

I’ve already introduced myself in this blog, but I do want to say that I am truly a big fan of all the people I’m working with here. Honestly, this surprised me, as I anticipated a great deal of animosity between myself and the others due to the fact that everyone else self-identifies as a Giveasaurus and I fancy myself more of a Velocidonor. Thankfully, this has proven to be inconsequential, and I now feel as if I am in for one of the better summers of my life. For the sake of fitting in with the other intern bios, I am originally from Winston-Salem, NC. No offense to my peeps back there, but I wholeheartedly prefer being in Chicago, and I hope to live here for a very long time. I have a Magazine Journalism degree from the University of Missouri (Mizzou), and a strong desire to leave that world behind for the just-as-financially-unstable life of comedy. I spend an unhealthy percentage of my free time at The Second City and iO, and my favorite music comes from Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco.

When prompted for two truths and a lie, I gave myself the following:

1) As a child, I enrolled in a karate class, but cried and quit after being frightened by my instructor’s demonstration.

2) Since the day I turned 16 and got my drivers license, I have eaten the overwhelming majority of my meals at or from a restaurant because I don’t really know how to prepare any kind of food for myself.

3) I once rap battled a published novelist.

Again, to win a FREE Giveasaurus t-shirt, submit your guesses as to which statement from each intern is at least partially false as either a comment on this blog, via e-mail at dshar@giveforward.org, or on our Facebook page by JULY 12.