This semester I was given the opportunity to intern at Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and I thought this blog would be the perfect place to tell everyone about all of the great things I’ve learned and done this semester.

Working at LSRJ I was able to work on great assignments, and learn about things that I am passionate about.  My work for the semester included developing an intersex and a transgender fact sheet.  This was a great opportunity to use my existing knowledge and learn more, in areas that truly interests me.  This not only gave me a chance to learn new things, but also to utilize the areas of expertise and knowledge that I had coming into the internship.  I also edited and updated existing fact sheets.  This was an incredible opportunity to learn more about topics of interest to me.  Since starting my internship, I’ve found myself engaging in more debates with friends about reproductive justice issues because I am now very well versed in so many more areas than before my internship.

In March of this year LSRJ took me to attend Reproductive Freedom Day 2009 in Sacramento, which was sponsored by the California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom.  The highlight of this day was going to the Capitol and lobbying.  The day also included workshops, speakers, and an introduction on how to lobby.  I received an introduction to the lobbying process, and then I was sent with a small group to an appointment with a Congresswoman to advocate for SB 810, the California Universal Healthcare bill.  This was an absolutely amazing experience for me.  I think of my younger years as a minority in a small town, sharing a one bedroom apartment with my mom, and am in awe of the opportunities that I have gained through law school and through LSRJ.  I never would have imagined that someone from that background could be in Sacramento at age 25 lobbying to advocate for new laws that will affect the entire state of California. 

Although I intend to work in the criminal arena in the long term, my internship with LSRJ has been my most valuable internship thus far.  I have learned many things, made great connections, and have been given amazing opportunities.   

C. Caleb Arring

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 at 10:32 pm and is filed under leadership, guests, law school. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.