Major: Criminology
Minor: Psychology and Political Science
Hometown: Pleasanton, CA

How did you learn about this opportunity?

I found it online after googling legal internships in San Francisco

Tell us a little bit about your experience.

I worked in the Family Law Facilitators office in the San Mateo County Courthouse. The Family Law Facilitators office is essentially a self help center for self representing litigants who either couldn't afford a lawyer or just didn't want one. My job was to help the litigants through their paperwork and answer any questions they may have had during their legal process. I worked with many different types of people on many different types of cases such as: divorce, child custody or support, child abduction, emergency protection orders, restraining orders and domestic violence.

They provided a comfortable and safe environment for me to ask questions and develop my interpersonal skills.

How did this experience impact you academically?

I worked with an amazing team of attorneys and paralegals who were very interesting in teaching me as long as I was willing to learn. They provided a comfortable and safe environment for me to ask questions and develop my interpersonal skills. I learned a lot about the legal process and how to deal with people who are in a crisis. I learned a lot about relationships and how quickly they can fall apart. I was able to get a deeper look into the psychology behind abusive relationships which enabled me to understand them a little better. I become more sympathetic towards people and learned to not get too emotionally attached to cases.

What are your career goals and plans?  How did this experience impact them?

This internship helped me to finally decide that law school was my ultimate goal and helped me narrow down which field of law I would like to go into. While I wouldn’t necessarily choose to go into family law, I now know that I have a small background in it and would feel comfortable in my ability to learn it in the future. Family law is an emotionally draining and highly technical field which is tough to enjoy. Because my office is a neutral third party, we were able to help both sides of a case which taught me to wait to understand both sides of a story before passing judgement.

Would you recommend this experience to other Liberal Arts students?

Yes, it was a very hands on experience which allowed me to dive deep into the world of Family Law.