One Down, Seven Left!

I just finished up my first week at Planned Parenthood (PPFA) and I could not be more excited for the rest of the summer! We spent the first couple days of the week in orientation programming. During that time I got to meet the other interns, learn more about PPFA's services, and get an update on what the Litigation & Law team is doing right now. It's obviously a very stressful, tiring time to be in reproductive rights work so it was really energizing to meet so many wonderful team members.

The department is also extremely busy with litigation across the country. I felt like this week really gave me an idea of all the types of work that they do. On Tuesday, the team successfully argued for a preliminary injunction to block multiple abortion restrictions in Montana. Then, on Thursday, they filed a lawsuit against South Carolina's new abortion ban on the same day that it was passed. Finally, on Friday the South Carolina state court granted PPFA's request to temporarily block the abortion ban. Seeing how active the team is really makes me feel more invigorated and sure that I'm in the right place. It's clear that as soon as Roe was overturned, this team hit the ground running and has not stopped since.

This work along with the people I met reassures me that I am going to have a fantastic internship experience. As I only just finished up my first year of law school, I have never worked in any sort of legal team. Already I have started conducting real legal research on topics that I am passionate about. Unsurprisingly, it feels completely different from doing this sort of work in the vacuum of a fictional case for a class paper. Based on the team's emphasis on feedback, I am sure that I will get a multitude of opportunities to improve my skills.

Additionally, the team clearly is prioritizing mentorship as a core part of the summer. Each of us interns is paired up with a mentor within the team who is someone we can talk to and ask questions of throughout our time. We also have weekly check ins for all the interns with our intern supervisors, along with occasional 1:1s with one of the intern supervisors. The assignment structure additionally is designed to show us lots of different types of work across a variety of states. This set-up means that we will also get to work with many different team members, which is great.

I can't wait to continue with this work for the next seven weeks. I think that this internship will be the perfect way for me to get an idea of what this potential career would look like, which is exactly what I am hoping to learn. The team has fostered a great environment that reassures me that this is the ideal first internship. I am sure I will be able to learn a lot in an extremely supportive space, while also getting real advice from current attorneys.

This weekend I head to New York so hopefully I will have a more exciting update at the end of next week! I will also be working in the office for the first time and meeting the other interns and team members in person, which should be fun. For now, I got to enjoy spending some time with my family at home (and the beautiful view).