The biggest challenge I face at internship would probably be staying 100% focused all day. Since I'm here from 8:30-5:30, through the day I'll get kind of tired especially towards the end. So it can be a struggle when you're getting tired especially when you're used to getting off of school at 3:25, and now getting home at 6:30 because of Downtown traffic. I love internship but after dinner I am out like a light every week night. But the adjustment to not getting home when I was used to is definitely weird, I'm sure when I go back to school those days are going to feel shorter!
I think since I'v been here a challenge I've seen my co-workers tackle is scheduling things with my main mentor Chris. But Liz and AJ worked fast until everything was moved to the right time. That's most likely one of the main struggles is all three attorneys managing their busy schedules. They have scheduled phone calls, meetings, clients to speak with or meet up, places to go, and more. I'd imagine the content they're handling is also a challenge.
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Cade- What stands out about Cade's internship is that typically animal-related internships I've seen in the past are about cats, dogs, or the zoo.. But hers is rabbits. I find it pretty cool and unique. Similarly to Cade I also have a smaller group of people to work with. We are pretty quiet too but do talk whenever we have a free minute. But our actual internships are very different! I totally wish we had an office bunny though. I'd ask Cade what this internship has taught her about what she'd like to do in the future. I'd also ask which bunny (if she can decide) is her favorite.
Udeema- What stands out to me about Udeema's internship is how I was surprised with her choice since she's always seemed to be more interested in engineering. I think it was brave of her to branch out and try something different. With her I have in common that I too went into a different kind of law for internship than what I planned and I'm also having a pleasant experience in it. Our differences would obviously be our interests. I'd ask specifically how her career hopes have changed. Pearl- I also find Pearl's internship completely unique much like Cade's because she's doing work with animals outside of cats, dogs, and the zoo. She's interning at the Living Coast Center for birds and all the pictures I've seen of them are so cute. Pearl is doing work that benefits animals and wildlife and I'm doing work to benefit climate change. The contrast would be that my work is legal and legal-writing work while hers is very direct help to the animals. I'd ask Pearl where she'd like to work and if there's a particular animal or bird she's interested in. I'd also ask her which bird is her favorite. Kenneth- What stands out to me is that Kenneth's internship could lead to him becoming a tutor at HTE. That's really amazing and a great way of showing how beneficial internship is to us. Similarly to this I was recently invited to an event the firm is attending after my internship ends. It seems like such a great opportunity to further my connections. The difference in our internship would be the work we're doing, but I think it's great how we're both emerging into the "real world" after internship and developing those connections now. I;d ask Kenneth if teaching is what he'd like to do and if so what grade would he like to work with. I knew when I started internship that I'd want to go into some kind of human rights or advocacy for different groups of people, but I think now with more knowledge on human rights I want to go into this even more than I did prior to starting work here. I just feel very drawn to the idea of being able to help people if they're not receiving the same rights as everyone else. Like I said, I knew I was interested in this before but now I have a much larger desire to begin studying human rights and how to have a leveled playing field for everyone. Because I've learned from my research over and over, not having the simplest most basic rights can lead to so much more struggles in the future and disadvantage you socially, educationally, economically, etc.
I look forward to continuing my work here, and eventually what I want my future to look like is I want to practice criminal law, and I want to have the financial stability in order to support people that need it in every way I can, and practice defending human rights along with criminal justice. I don't know which one is going to come first but I just want to be secure myself so that I can dive into human rights or social justice without having to need money or anything else out of it. I think I'm on the path now to knowing what exactly I want to do in my career path, and it's going to take a lot of time and dedication and hard work but I'm more excited than ever to head off to college and get on this road to pursuing the careers I want to pursue. And I'm so glad this internship gave me a clearer idea of that. At my internship, the lawyers have their own offices next door to each other. There’s currently three lawyers here, Chris has the office in the middle of Ryan and Adrian’s offices, the three of them are in there by themselves working on whatever they need to. A lot of the times they’re also on phone calls and they all seem pretty busy throughout the day. The same goes for AJ, Bee, and Liz who have cubicles outside of the offices that are all three next to each other. They’re probably the most social since their workspace is more open and they’re near each other. But Chris, Ryan, and Adrian also get out of their offices to come talk to everyone and check up on what I’m doing as well. For example, I met with Ryan everyday my first week since Chris was out of the office to go over the beginning of my work. Chris and I have met a couple times since I’ve been working here and we went over exactly what my assignments would be. And yesterday Adrian came into my office to talk to me about what I’ve been doing this far into my internship and gave me some more articles and things to read.
I don’t know how much of their work really ties in together between them all since most of the information they handle is private, but I know they have to communicate a lot and they have to communicate well in order to get everything done that they need to. They’re all in touch with one another, when there’s emails most of them are probably on the chain, and they just all seem to be really good at keeping in touch with one another. I think I discussed this in an earlier post but similarly to High Tech, since their office in numbers of people is smaller, I think they’re closer since they are seeing and getting to know each other more and more everyday. (Like right now as I’m writing this Liz made AJ laugh). They do seem very social, and when they’re not working or have a free second they’re definitely more likely to go to lunch with someone in the office or spend time with someone in the office than to go to lunch by themselves and I think it’s because they all just get along really well. While this was not part of the prompt, as a side note, something fun that happened today was Adrian's one year anniversary with the company! We picked up food from the burger lounge, apparently one of his favorite restaurants nearby and ate in the conference room. In the beginning of our lunch we talked to him and asked him about his career-path which he's been successful in thus far. Everyone has congratulated him for all of his work the past year, and we all wish him luck in the future. It does kind of relate to the prompt because socially speaking, this is a very supportive and encouraging work environment who celebrates each other when they accomplish something such as promotions, anniversaries, and achievements. My project is a research paper and presentation on various environmental, human rights, and political topics to be presented to groups of people my mentor thinks will benefit them as well as her. The paper is getting increasingly larger and my sources are flooding my binder, and I’m enjoying what I’m learning. I have gained an immense interest in social justice and human rights over the past two weeks, I was already intrigued and it but now more than ever, investing my time now and in my future sounds so rewarding if it means making a difference for people deprived of basic human rights.
The skills I’ve used and will continue to use and need are writing, researching skills, and the ability to manage my time, stay organized, and stay focused. Later when it becomes time to give the presentation I’ll also need to be strong for the public speaking portion, and keep everyone interested and make sure the information is benefiting them and their own research and work. The project is being made to inform the people in and out of the office, and give them a tool with research on my topic easy to access. My project is useful to them because it’s research they’re interested in reading and having but don’t have the time to do since they’re busy with so many other things. I’m even working on an index for my online sources that they could also keep if they wanted and read more in that directly. I’ll be sharing the information with others as well and continue researching whatever it is my mentor would like me to for this project.
For my interview with a co-worker I chose Elizabeth Sanchez, but everyone calls her Liz. I’ve known her for quite sometime since she was a good friend of my grandma’s when she worked here as well. I’ve known her outside of work in a very family-like environment so it’s interesting to know her in the office and how she came to be here.
She went to Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School in Los Angeles before getting into LA Trade Tech to study business administration, she worked in L.A. as a receptionist for Guess and was promoted to payroll. Later she worked for the shoe company Zara in collections. But after this she applied for BHFS sixteen years ago and has been working here as an administrative assistant ever since. Liz specifically works with my mentor Chris but she also helps everyone in the office. Liz, AJ, and Bee always seem busy whether they’re typing away or answering phone calls. Liz just came back to work this week and it’s a bit different as all three of them earlier today were all on the phone at the same time, but I like the extra people around, especially Liz, a familiar face who I’ve known since I was a little kid. This week I am most surprised by the fact that I am very interested in what I’m doing. I’ve always had a stronger interest in criminal justice than anything, but I’m realizing more and more that I also have a big interest in environmental justice and human rights. I think I’ve only been exposed to criminal justice before this internship which is why I didn’t know I had this interest as well. I’ve always doubted myself a little when it comes to science so it’s great to know that I can understand it just as much as I can history, literature, etc.
Another thing that’s surprising is how well everyone does interact with each other, I’ve heard a lot of stories from working relatives and family-friends of mine that have problems with each other in the office. But everyone here seems pretty close for being co-workers. For example, Bee and AJ seem to work a lot together, and Bee invites AJ to her daughter’s birthdays. One of them is coming up and it seems like AJ is going. I notice other things like this that show that they are very tight-knit and seem to know about one another’s lives. The vibe I’ve gotten is that they all work and socialize really well with each other. Which is surprising because I haven’t heard of it too often. This might be because there isn’t too many people in the office and I think similarly to school, working with each other everyday in a smaller amount of people gives them the opportunity to be close. Ultimately, I think I’m overall surprised after realizing I would be interested in working in this field in a similar work environment to the one I am now. I’m surprised that I enjoy getting up early now because I get to go to work!! “Bettering our world from the inside out—it’s the very core of who we are.” This is written on the about page from the website of BHFS. There was a lot written there but this is what stuck out most to me. I think they represent people who they feel deserve to be represented, someone who is trying to better the world. I’m working in a different kind of law where it isn’t innocent and guilty, or bad guy versus good guy. It’s about bigger things, and bigger groups of people.
They work a lot on environmental law which is why “bettering our world” could possibly be taken literally. They all seem to have the right goals and intentions in mind, it’s nice working in a place that cares about wildlife, the climate, and the environment. I think after the Election Project and the overall election I was nervous to be placed in an office that didn’t care about these things or brushed them off when brought up. But they do and it makes it a much more comfortable work environment knowing that there isn’t going to be debates on topics when everyone has a positive common goal. One of my mentors is named Ryan Waterman, he attended Berkeley for law school and met someone with a job opportunity for him in San Diego. We were discussing colleges over lunch and he described to me how something as simple as the name or popularity of the school is enough to increase your chances at obtaining a job at a company; especially for law. He moved here for his first job in law and eventually started working here at BHFS. He has children and met his wife in Berkeley.
Coincidentally enough, he lives right by Liberty Station and was asking me about High Tech High International, he and his wife have looked into the elementary and middle school since they’re interested in enrolling their kids with High Tech. I informed him that I enjoy the program and that they should definitely move forward with it. His son is in fifth and his daughter is in fourth. One of my mentors is named Adrian LeCesne and he was born in Chicago, he attended Yale and Stanford for college and has lived in many places before moving here and working in this office. He has a background in many different kinds of law and deeply discussed criminal law (my favorite so far) with me and told me a little about some of his classes. His wife is a professor and they have a baby. |
AuthorWhile attending High Tech High International, I began my internship January 4th, 2017 in BHFS, a law firm. My last day is February 3rd, and I am studying environmental, human rights, & political law in my time here, |