1.What is your summer job and what are you doing there?

This summer I am an intern for LCD, the Legal Clinic for the Disabled, in Philadelphia.  LCD offers a variety of free legal services ranging from wills or landlord tenant disputes to bankruptcy or legal protection from domestic violence.  Many of their clients suffer from medical impairments and insolvency. So, LCD uses a Medical Legal Partnership model by teaming with health care facilities throughout the city to give people legal help with social deterrents to their health. Free legal services improve health outcomes for these clients. For me, working with LCD is more than research and observation, since I have the opportunity to work directly with clients, medical practitioners, and legal partners in the region. Moreover, I help with in-house projects, client intake, and my supervisors welcome any questions I have.

2.How did Rutgers Law School help you get this summer internship?

My legal writing professor suggested a summer internship, so I applied for a position when the law school hosted on campus Interviews that spring. Days before my interview, the company’s legal director called and asked for permission to forward my resume to LCD, where she works part time.  Although they generally don’t hire first year students, the interviewer recommended me to LCD, as she believed I would do well and enjoy the position.  Luckily, Rutgers invited an employer who considered me as an individual.  Now, I have an amazing summer gig. 

3. What activities are you involved in at law school?

Last year I served as a 1L class representative for the Student Bar Association, I am a member of Outlaws (the law school’s LGBTQ organization), a member of the Minority Student Program, and I work in the law school admission’s office.  Now, I am excited for a new leadership role this fall, as the regional representative for the university’s chapter of the Black Law Student Association.

4.Where are you from, where did you go to undergraduate school, why did you pick Rutgers Law?

I am from Burlington County and went to The College of New Jersey. I majored in sociology, minored in Spanish, and conducted research centered on social justice.  What I learned in and out of the classroom as well as studying abroad in Madrid, set the stage for law school. 

I chose Rutgers for two reasons.  First, Rutgers Law School has an amazing reputation for producing great attorneys. Second, as a mother of two, my duty is to set a positive example for my girls. Oftentimes, children do as they see not as they are told.  My girls deserve to see what tenacity looks like on a woman. Rutgers is challenging but it’s a price I’m willing to pay for a high quality education.

5. How will this summer's experience help you in your future legal career?

Working in Pennsylvania’s public sector makes me very marketable both there and here in New Jersey. Furthermore, I’m gaining a better sense of my own strengths as well as areas for growth.  I owe this to a summer internship that puts my legal skills to use, exposes me to different areas of law, and handles cases at many stages of litigation.