Around the end of the school year, in April, I was driving home from school when I got a text from my parents, asking when I'd be home.
I'm honestly not sure what I expected them to do, or what I expected to happen if I got there sooner. I just remember being so so SO bloody excited that I might have a chance to hear something about an internship.
See, I had been talking to my dad about interning at a law office, and he had said that he'd ask around a bit at work. I'd called a couple places, with no luck, and we had talked about a couple attorneys that might one day be interested. So. This was huge.
I GET TO THE HOUSE, RIGHT, annnnnnd Dad was not home. He had taken the kids to Civil Air Patrol. I was pretty much bouncing off the walls at this point and ran upstairs and tried to get answers from Mom, to no avail. Finally, Dad got home and gave me a business card. I stared at it for a bit and wasn't quite sure what to do with it (being the brilliant blonde I am) and eventually he told me that he had written on the back.
The card was the Deputy District Attorney's, and he had told my dad that the office would probably be interested in an intern. It wouldn't be paid, but I'd really get to see if law was what I wanted to do.
I know it doesn't sound all that exciting, but I was flipping my lid.
As soon as the next business day rolled around, I called. It took a couple days, but I finally got ahold of Campion and spoke with him about the internship, and went into the office to take a look around and to talk about when I'd start and all that tosh. To make a long story short, I got the position. I started on May 12th.
First day there I had to go through a background check, which took about two minutes, and sign a confidentiality agreement. I was then placed in the care of the leading District Attorney and assisted her with a case that she was working on. They put me in an office to work in for the day (or so I thought) and told me I'd be bored out of my mind in an hour.
Well, I wasn't. I breezed through the work they gave me and went back for more. They sent me over to the courthouse instead, to observe in the courtroom. I got to watch an entire robbery case, with multiple defendants. SO. EXCITED.
Since that first day, I've written a couple motions for the court, I've observed several trials (mainly murder trials), helped several of the attorneys with cases, and made some fantastic connections. Every single day I've learned something new, I've been shown a different aspect of the law, and I've been exposed to how a career in law actually feels.
Let me tell you... It feels freaking awesome. I have loved every single moment of it, and value it so much. The people I worked with have been fantastic, and have offered letters of recommendation and have told me that there will always be a place for me, if I ever want to go back.
I'm going to miss it all. Especially the Nesbett Courthouse. A lot of people don't really realize that you don't *have* to hang out in the downstairs lounge or cafeteria if you're not in the courtroom. As a result, the top four floors are typically silent as a ghost. Its where I've done some of my best thinking, written the best I've ever written, and felt the most at peace.
My favorite place was the sixth floor, where you can see over the balconies, down onto the street, and over the tops of most of the buildings in downtown. Each floor has these massive windows that span nearly the entire outer wall. My spot was in the very middle of the entire floor, in the middle of the largest window.
From the sixth floor you can see the couple arguing on the street corner; the mom yelling at her kids to stop teasing the younger ones; the angry cab driver leaning out of his window to yell at someone; the business men and women walking and talking fast. You know that they're making a racket. You know that, if you were outside, you'd hear all of that insanity. But, on the top floor of the courthouse, you can't hear anything except for the occasional rattle of the elevator cables. There's something extremely calming, looking out over the chaos, of the tourists, of the vehicles, of the construction going on on the next block, and knowing none of it can touch you.
On that floor, I've jammed out to my 80's rock, I've used up three whole legal pads from writing potential blog posts, which will probably never get posted because I'm lazy, and I've watched one of the most exciting murder cases I've ever seen. That case solidified my want to advocate for the death penalty in Alaska.
On the sixth floor, I've held random women in the bathroom, as they cried on my shoulder about a case they were involved in. I've watched all of the behind-the-scenes action in trials. I've drunk my weight in coffee, I've spoken to a couple judges, made friends with a defense attorney, made myself very well known to the court reporters, and just.... been there, to watch and observe and mimic. Most of the court officers know me by now, and the security officers at the entrances of the courthouses know me by name.
I've broken things, taken naps, broken things, learned so much, did menial tasks, and broke a few things. But they accepted me, and I returned the feelings.
I'm just so excited about how this internship has developed, and I'm really going to miss everyone and being a part of everything in the office. I can't wait till I get a chance to return to the office and do more in-depth and extensive work.
If anything has come from this internship, it's that I'm am 100% certain that law is what I want to do with my life. First goal is to become a prosecutor, and the next, a judge. One day, people, one day I'm going to change my name to Lady Justice, and they'll have to call me Justice Lady Justice. And it's gonna be freaking rad as heck.
I've loved my experience at the office, and I'm not looking forward to not having to wake up at 6am (which is very surprising, because I value my sleep more than food). I wish I could stay here forever and just never leave. Sadly, however, my last day is Friday, and I plan to make this last week legendary.
Well, guys.... thanks for reading. I'm not sure that I'll be able to go back to the courthouse much before the end of the internship, but if I'm not in the office, you'll know exactly where to find me. Ciao.
"Where are you at?"
"I be driving."
"When will you be home?"
"Soon. I'm not stopping anywhere."
"Okay... Dad has some news about an internship."
"DSAFDSHGERHAGRDGDKFDS WAHT"
"Yup."
"IM GOING TO BE THERE VERY SOON."
I'm honestly not sure what I expected them to do, or what I expected to happen if I got there sooner. I just remember being so so SO bloody excited that I might have a chance to hear something about an internship.
See, I had been talking to my dad about interning at a law office, and he had said that he'd ask around a bit at work. I'd called a couple places, with no luck, and we had talked about a couple attorneys that might one day be interested. So. This was huge.
I GET TO THE HOUSE, RIGHT, annnnnnd Dad was not home. He had taken the kids to Civil Air Patrol. I was pretty much bouncing off the walls at this point and ran upstairs and tried to get answers from Mom, to no avail. Finally, Dad got home and gave me a business card. I stared at it for a bit and wasn't quite sure what to do with it (being the brilliant blonde I am) and eventually he told me that he had written on the back.
The card was the Deputy District Attorney's, and he had told my dad that the office would probably be interested in an intern. It wouldn't be paid, but I'd really get to see if law was what I wanted to do.
I know it doesn't sound all that exciting, but I was flipping my lid.
As soon as the next business day rolled around, I called. It took a couple days, but I finally got ahold of Campion and spoke with him about the internship, and went into the office to take a look around and to talk about when I'd start and all that tosh. To make a long story short, I got the position. I started on May 12th.
First day there I had to go through a background check, which took about two minutes, and sign a confidentiality agreement. I was then placed in the care of the leading District Attorney and assisted her with a case that she was working on. They put me in an office to work in for the day (or so I thought) and told me I'd be bored out of my mind in an hour.
Well, I wasn't. I breezed through the work they gave me and went back for more. They sent me over to the courthouse instead, to observe in the courtroom. I got to watch an entire robbery case, with multiple defendants. SO. EXCITED.
Since that first day, I've written a couple motions for the court, I've observed several trials (mainly murder trials), helped several of the attorneys with cases, and made some fantastic connections. Every single day I've learned something new, I've been shown a different aspect of the law, and I've been exposed to how a career in law actually feels.
Let me tell you... It feels freaking awesome. I have loved every single moment of it, and value it so much. The people I worked with have been fantastic, and have offered letters of recommendation and have told me that there will always be a place for me, if I ever want to go back.
I'm going to miss it all. Especially the Nesbett Courthouse. A lot of people don't really realize that you don't *have* to hang out in the downstairs lounge or cafeteria if you're not in the courtroom. As a result, the top four floors are typically silent as a ghost. Its where I've done some of my best thinking, written the best I've ever written, and felt the most at peace.
My favorite place was the sixth floor, where you can see over the balconies, down onto the street, and over the tops of most of the buildings in downtown. Each floor has these massive windows that span nearly the entire outer wall. My spot was in the very middle of the entire floor, in the middle of the largest window.
From the sixth floor you can see the couple arguing on the street corner; the mom yelling at her kids to stop teasing the younger ones; the angry cab driver leaning out of his window to yell at someone; the business men and women walking and talking fast. You know that they're making a racket. You know that, if you were outside, you'd hear all of that insanity. But, on the top floor of the courthouse, you can't hear anything except for the occasional rattle of the elevator cables. There's something extremely calming, looking out over the chaos, of the tourists, of the vehicles, of the construction going on on the next block, and knowing none of it can touch you.
On that floor, I've jammed out to my 80's rock, I've used up three whole legal pads from writing potential blog posts, which will probably never get posted because I'm lazy, and I've watched one of the most exciting murder cases I've ever seen. That case solidified my want to advocate for the death penalty in Alaska.
On the sixth floor, I've held random women in the bathroom, as they cried on my shoulder about a case they were involved in. I've watched all of the behind-the-scenes action in trials. I've drunk my weight in coffee, I've spoken to a couple judges, made friends with a defense attorney, made myself very well known to the court reporters, and just.... been there, to watch and observe and mimic. Most of the court officers know me by now, and the security officers at the entrances of the courthouses know me by name.
I've broken things, taken naps, broken things, learned so much, did menial tasks, and broke a few things. But they accepted me, and I returned the feelings.
I'm just so excited about how this internship has developed, and I'm really going to miss everyone and being a part of everything in the office. I can't wait till I get a chance to return to the office and do more in-depth and extensive work.
If anything has come from this internship, it's that I'm am 100% certain that law is what I want to do with my life. First goal is to become a prosecutor, and the next, a judge. One day, people, one day I'm going to change my name to Lady Justice, and they'll have to call me Justice Lady Justice. And it's gonna be freaking rad as heck.
I've loved my experience at the office, and I'm not looking forward to not having to wake up at 6am (which is very surprising, because I value my sleep more than food). I wish I could stay here forever and just never leave. Sadly, however, my last day is Friday, and I plan to make this last week legendary.
Well, guys.... thanks for reading. I'm not sure that I'll be able to go back to the courthouse much before the end of the internship, but if I'm not in the office, you'll know exactly where to find me. Ciao.
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