Time Flies
I can’t believe I have been interning at the Women’s Law Project for over a month now. It is amazing that I feel like I’ve just started, yet I only have three weeks left.
I realized, after scrolling through my previous entries, I have never really talked about the physical environment of my internship. Maybe an office in the middle of Philly is not quite as exciting as the locales in which other CPGC interns are currently working, but it seems worthwhile mentioning at least.
We live about 13 blocks from the WLP office. (I say “we” because, as I previously mentioned, both Lizzy and I work at the WLP). We walk to and from work everyday. Since it is Philly in the summer, the weather is brutally hot and humid. Luckily, the WLP is well air-conditioned, so from nine to five I escape the Philly heat.
In the office, I have a small cubicle in a cluster of other cubicles, all assigned to the Telephone Counselors. Since there are more volunteers and interns than desks, everyone rotates spots depending on who is in for the day. However, I am the only full-time intern this summer so I usually grab the same desk everyday.
On a typical day when I’m counseling, I print out the daily log and begin making calls right away. I take down notes on scrap paper, which I then record in our database after I have talked to the caller. Before I phone callers, I try to look at their intake notes and pull up information on my computer that I think will be helpful to them. When I have questions about the proper information to give a caller, I run it by my supervisor before getting back to the person.
One of my favourite aspects of my internship at the WLP is lunchtime. Typically, the entire office has lunch at the same time in the conference room. The conversations at lunch range over a very varied set of topics, but they are always fascinating. Everyone has something interesting to say: from the staff attorney to the law students to the office manager.
One of the great things about a small office is that you know everybody who you are working alongside by name. The atmosphere at the WLP is super friendly and engaging. I think this is one of the components that has made my internship great so far: working around knowledgeable, passionate, and enthusiastic people.
Tags: Telephone Counseling, WLP