Hello!
I am at the midpoint of my internship with the Environmental Voter Project and I can confidently say that I am making progress with my learning objectives. My supervisor, Peter, holds weekly seminars to teach the interns about how to navigate the professional world. He has given presentations about grant writing, memos, and efficient job searching tactics. I’ve learned a lot from these weekly seminars and I’ve also talked to Nathaniel, the founder of EVP, about the possibility of holding a seminar about law schools and legal careers.
I have been working on several research projects that have shown me how corrupt American democracy truly can be. One of my research projects involved looking into Pennsylvania and Nevada’s histories of voter suppression tactics. I had to identify resources available to counteract the political manipulation. I recently completed research on environmental clubs and organizations in California and Louisiana universities. I worked collaboratively with a small group of interns to produce a detailed spreadsheet that had a list of every college by state, and every environmental organization and their corresponding contact information. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the state of California has over 300 active clubs. I plan to continue my research to identify the impact of political culture on environmental advocacy in different states. At the same time, seeing the abundance of such organizations in some states is very inspiring, and makes me hopeful for the future.
Over the past few weeks, I have developed several business skills that I will be able to utilize in the future. I have had to present my research findings in the form of presentations to a group of my peers as well as my supervisors, and have developed a level of comfortability in a professional environment. Looking back at when I started working here, I realize I have become more extroverted, and I feel much more confident making my voice heard. I can now write business memos with ease, and perform extensive formal research using techniques I have learned. Part of NCI’s mission is to promote leadership and I can definitely say that EVP has bolstered my presentation, public speaking and overall leadership skills. Living across the country from my family has also allowed me to develop a strong sense of independence, and increased my self-confidence thoroughly.
I look forward to the rest of my internship, and plan to continue to make the most of my time here!