Bringing internships to a close was very difficult for me. I really enjoyed my internship, the work I was doing, and the people I was surrounded by. The reason why I took on this internship is because I have always looked into law for my whole life. The reason for why I look at it so much is because it is a way for me to help out people. In law you are either defending or prosecuting someone for someone’s benefit. In the U.S. our immigration system is not great. There are many gaps and it is up for attorneys and law firms to help out immigrants with their status. When I interviewed my mentor, Miriam, she told me how she does this job because she wants to help people and she feels good in her job. She talked to me about asylum seeker cases and how she really wanted to help them to the best of their ability. I talked to the other paralegal, Vicente, he told me how he likes to also work at the law firm because he knows he is doing good and helping out the immigrant community. When I was working with the attorney, Kirsten, we had a a last minute talk about how some people aren’t granted asylum despite there being real threats back at their home country. This really showed me how fortunate I am to be living where I am and not having to fear for my life in my home. It made me want to help those in need even more. I put myself in the shoes of those immigrants and imagine how much I would like to be helped. That is why I want to help out a community, if not immigrants, then a similar community in need. After this internship, I feel more motivated than ever to make an impact in the lives of those that I talk to and interact with everyday. This internship also helped me out with my mindset for when it comes with working in groups. Helping out my mentor meant I had to help her with tasks that were sometimes quite demanding. We got our work done on time because I feel like her and I made a good team. The reason for this is because we both cared dearly for our work. Sometimes in group work there are those that bring down the whole group but it is up to those that care to pick it back up. That is why I also feel like it is important to surround yourself with people that want to progress in life and want for you to also succeed. I feel like my mind has been cleared out after internships and I can see a little bit clearer now. This internship really helped me as a person, student, and young adult.
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This week was the final week of internships. I have felt like I have really connected with the people in the Law Firm. I have talked to the attorneys, paralegals, and secretary. I feel like I helped contribute by helping alleviate some second hand tasks. The paralegals and attorneys have very important deadlines to meet and work to be finished. They don’t have time to be worrying about copying important documents needed and creating forms. I helped them out with this almost on a daily basis meaning they could put more time into the cases that were at hand. When having to create exhibit lists, we need copies of receipts and forms of clients. That in itself takes a very long time to finish. They have to find the documents in the clients folder which could eat up most of their time. Copying them, and then putting them in chronological order is very difficult. In internship my mentor didn’t have to worry about that. I looked for the documents, I set them up and copied them. When forms like G-28’s ( to show USCIS who is representing an applicant) and EOIR-28 (form needed when coming before an immigration judge) were needed, I did them. This way I was doing the secondary work while the paralegals were doing the primary work. I helped the attorney with translating letters and birth certificates from Spanish to English or vice versa. I also think I helped lighten up the mood a little bit. In the office I was in, I was with Vicente, who is a paralegal. With him I broke the ice and began to talk about music. Next thing I knew I was talking to him and asking him questions on a regular basis. I enjoyed my time talking with them and discussing things that they want, a bit relieving from just having to worry about work. Overall, these 4 weeks have been very enjoyable and I think that is because I put in an amount of effort that I am proud of. I’m not regretting putting too little and wishing I put more. I did everything to the best of my ability and did more when I had to.
Week 3 of my internship was very interesting and fun. I absolutely love my internship as it is so demanding at times. I have felt like it has really shaped me up as a person. The experience so far has been good especially with the people I have been working with. This week had some hard deadlines especially with some documents needed for court. We had to create exhibit lists which are supposed to prove an immigrants presence in the United States for X amount of years. This can be challenging as some people exhibit lists are larger than others. Having to work on them is very time consuming as you have to look at receipts that can prove that an immigrant has been in the United States for so many years. Not only that, but also finding important receipts can also be hard and that is why it took time this week. Luckily my mentor guides me through the process so I’m not alone. The paralegal Vicente also helps out and is always eager to answer my questions. He also makes internship super interesting as I have someone to talk to during internship and I feel excited to work everyday with them! As I said I had to do these exhibit lists and I was not alone. We had to go into crunch time as we needed to turn in the exhibit lists soon. Pretty much that week all hands were on deck. It was super cool seeing how efficient a working environment is when everyone has a task to achieve. My mentor, Miriam, was doing her own things while I was doing the exhibits. If I needed help I got help. If I needed to talk to one of the lawyers I talked to them. This week I feel like I got even closer with the people at the internship as I feel that now I have been doing work that is important. I feel like I have achieved something this week and this one was one for the books.
This second week I had to work on organization a lot more as we received more mail and I had more work on my hand. In my second week of internships, I got very comfortable around my colleagues. I got to interact with them through conversations about who they are and the things that they enjoy to do. I gotta to connect with them as I too share some of the hobbies and interests as them. As we talked more and more I was able to pick up on some of the qualities they have. Vicente is a very hardworking and motivated person. He told me how he pushed through high school and college to be the best. He always had that push to want to achieve greatness. When he interacts with clients whether its through the phone or in person he is always very professional. That is a quality I want to acquire as it will help with interacting with more people in a professional environment. My mentor, Miriam, also shares the same qualities. I notice with her that is she is a very caring person. She is always checking up with me and asking how I am doing. That quality is one that I want to acquire as it will make me a better person all around. It is important as people like her help people progress in life with the support she gives. That is that that I would like to do. I want to help others and I know that by doing so I first have to be able to care and support others. Another quality that I want to acquire is organization. Both Vicente and Miriam are very organized. They have a whole system set up for when it comes to receiving mail, updating a client's case, and receiving clients. In the 2 weeks that I have been working with them I have been able to work on my organization skills by following their example. I know that organization is key in life so acquiring this skill early in life will help me in preparing for school and work.
Rob Riordan is trying to explain that with internships, it will give you a new sense of self worth. If you feel like you can’t do well in school, then you will feel like you can do well in life. To many school makes them lose hope in the future as it is so embedded in our head that without education you are not successful. For my internship, I hope that I get a meaningful internship experience in which I can see how hard it is to be an immigration lawyer. I want to understand how rigorous it is to become a lawyer especially in the immigration department. I am still somewhat unsure of whether or not I myself would like to become a lawyer but I think I am looking into it because I want to help people. I feel that be helping others I am actually doing something well. I don't like looking out for my self interest because I know that there are many problems in the world. That is why I choose to help others. I have a good work ethic that has helped me out in my classroom with project work since freshman year. I have had moments in which I have had all the work load put on me and it was up to me push through. I had to push through because I knew that if I didn’t get the work done, no one else will. I feel like that is what is going to help me in internship.
In High Tech High, I have learned easy skills and hard skills. I have learned to use the google apps efficiently. These are very helpful especially when doing work on the go as I can download them on phone and be able to do work on it sometimes. It has shown me to look for other solutions and not just stop after one problem. It has given me room to be able to create good work and on time. A hard skill I have learned is presentation skill and dressing well. I enjoy presenting an I feel like high tech has helped me with that as it is preparing me for the future. I hope to be someone who talks in public spaces in front of crowds and not be scared. As of right now I feel comfortable presenting especially when dressed in proper attire. High Tech has shown me that the way you dress is also important as to how you deliver yourself. I see this is especially true in interviews as you have to give a good first impression in order to be a candidate. This also ties into my speaking skills. The whole point is to try to sell yourself which I feel High Tech has shown me. I have had multiple interviews for various organizations and I felt prepared and confident when going because of high tech. It is important to also know who you are interviewed by as it will create a space for a talk to occur and that could increase chances in being chosen for a job or position. Overall I feel like high tech is really preparing me for the future and a successful career. When I get older I hope to be able to be successful in whatever career path I choose. I hope to be able to earn as salary that provides food for the table as well as happiness. I really hope to own my dream cars as this will show to me that I indeed have made it in life. My dream would be to become a Formula 1 pilot as this would mean I am one of the best drivers in the world as well as being able to drive and race high performance cars. That is when I would be doing what I truly love. I want to be someone who can either change or do an impact on a community. This is one of my biggest goals and that is why I have such a hard time choosing what i would like to do because I don’t know which one would fit best. I want to be able to either influence my community or be able to provide for them. In order for me to achieve this I need to work on motivation. There are many times in which I lose motivation but I do end up getting that motivation back. However, I would like to able to stay consistent with that motivation and not have to worry about feeling down. I am very excited to go into my internship because I feel so honored to be able to work in a professional law firm. I am very curious to see just how complex law is and I hope to be able to understand what it means to be a lawyer.
In this week I truly learned what it meant to be able to take critique. We had our first draft of our research paper and we were doing peer critique. I felt pretty confident that mine was going to be good. As it turned out, I should have swallowed my pride. I had gotten critique from one of my peers and they told me instantly that it made no sense. That I was not analyzing my evidence or adding enough commentary. Let me be honest, I felt a bit disappointed in myself. I didn’t however let it ruin my vibe. I just told myself, so what if its is bad right now, I still have time to improve. This was the first time someone had gone hard on critique for me. I feel grateful that the person went 100% on my draft because now I know what to change. At first I was a bit lost with what I should do but thanks to the critique I know what kind of quotes and sources I should be looking for. I know what kind of commentary I have to add in order to make my paper good. This critique session showed me that I should take critique as a good thing rather than a bad thing. The critique will only make me better. As I progress in life I will be told things I may not like but for the most part it is said to better shape me up as a person. I know that as I get older I will have to learn to take critique and it starts today. |
AuthorIker Garcia Archives
June 2019
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