My name is Amber Thorpe and I am a rising senior at Tulane University and originally from Los Angeles. After several years of indecisiveness and abrupt major/minor changes, I am finally set on majoring in Anthropology and Political Science and minoring in French and Africana Studies. Beyond academics–which indubitably takes up the bulk of my time during the school year–I work at the Center for Public Service as a Service-Learning Assistant, Community Engagement Advocate, and (recently) as a Curriculum and Training Specialist. Beyond that, I am the historian of Students Organizing Against Racism (SOAR), the historian for Amnesty International at Tulane, the president of the Tulane Anthropology Club, and I work in Doctor Rodning’s lab analyzing archaeological materials. In addition, I am a member of the Omicron Kappa Delta Circle and Mortar Board Honors Society.
After spending the better part of my Tulane years focusing on my anthropology major by engaging in archaeological research (both in the field and in the lab), I am excited to spend some time focusing more on my political science background. This fabulous opportunity to work at Lift Louisiana–a non-profit that seeks to defend reproductive healthcare access in Louisiana through education, litigation, and advocacy work–will provide me with the unique ability to do just that. By interning at this organization, I look forward to deepening my understanding of the state of reproductive healthcare in Louisiana, of the reproductive justice movement (in the South and more broadly), and for the opportunity to get an inside look on how social justice oriented non-profits function. I hope to bring as much to Lift Louisiana as they will indubitably provide me with, and ultimately seek to uplift the work they are doing to defend reproductive healthcare access and ensure that people get the care, treatment, and rights they need and deserve in Louisiana.