INTERNSHIPS: STUDENT EXPERIENCES

Working as an intern or volunteer can be a great experience. Here's what a few UI students have to say about their time as interns.

Matt Stromquist

College of Law • Summer 2005

"Working last summer with Lawyers for Human Rights in South Africa, I assisted attorneys representing poor and landless clients threatened with illegal evictions from land they occupied.  I consulted with clients, edited briefs for court, and hosted a training session for farm workers, NGOs, and the South African Department of Labor on the rights of land occupation granted to laborers. 

I saw the power and impact that a truly transformative consitutional and statutory regime can have on improving people's lives."

 

Edward Jones

College of Law • Summer 2005

"I spent ten weeks in New York City as a legal intern for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.  They focus on disability rights, access to health care for underserved populations, and environmental justice.  As an intern, I worked with attorneys in each of these areas.  I wrote a memo about New York City’s school site selection process for a case in which the city had built a school on a hazardous waste site.  I drafted a motion defending our expert witnesses in a police brutality case.

But research and writing was only half the fun: I got to attend agency award luncheons, fundraisers, and golf outings.  I sat in on court proceedings and attended a protest.  I participated in a series of brown-bag lunches on public interest work, and I took a day-long tour (called the “Toxic Tour”) of environmentally hazardous sites in the New York area. 

There is no substitute for the hands-on experience I’ve had at a public interest law firm, or for the contacts I made while working there.  Thanks to the UICHR for helping fund this summer experience!"

 

Alexis Bushnell  

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences • Summer 2005

I worked at the Cambodian Mine Action Center in Phnom Penh. It was fascinating work. The Center's mission is to clear Cambodia of the millions of landmines left over from years of civil war. Between interviewing former Khmer Rouge communists, editing reports going out to the U.S. Embassy (one of the group's funder), and visiting actual minefield, there was never any downtime when I wasn't learning.

I worked on grant proposals, drafted some of the Center's annual report, and visited the facilities where they trained dogs to detect mines. I saw a lot of good but also saw the real downside of having so many Western NGOs in a poor country. I wish I could have stayed longer.