Personal Narrative: Domestic Violence Internship

During the semester of Spring 2017, I interned at a domestic violence organization called DC Volunteer Lawyers project. I heard about this internship by looking through the University’s career web page. After doing some research on the organization, I was interested in applying. I was not sure what I would be getting myself into. I assumed that it would be an internship where I was not allowed to be too involved and would be learning from afar. I also thought it may be an internship with clerical tasks such as copying, printing and answering phones all the time. It turned out to be the complete opposite.

When I went to the interview for the legal internship in mid November, I was very nervous. My current supervisor, Mary, and a co-worker Katie

I had interned in high school but this felt different. I was very excited I got it on my own and was able to do something completely new. They had told me that at the position I would be: attending court hearings at the DC Superior Court, providing legal and administrative support to the supervising and volunteer attorneys, Assisting in the case administration of Child Advocacy (Guardian ad Litem) and Domestic Violence cases, including court document management and assisting with the annual benefit, Voices Against Violence. Aside from all the valuable experience the internship would give me, I was very eager to help with the Voices Against Violence event because the previous year, their guest speaker was Michelle Obama. The organization has a lot of valuable connections which help raise awareness to the

I worked with various attorneys and staff members on different cases and projects. I would personally recommend this internship to someone interested in law, trying to decide if law is for them or just someone with a passion for domestic violence law. This site was nothing but a positive experience. The only negative thing I could say is that it had to end. It saddens me to have to part from an organization with such wonderful mission. However, I am glad that my supervisor offered for me to be their translator. She said I would get called whenever someone needed a