Reflecting on My Semester with Lift Louisiana by Isha Patlola
This internship has informed me a lot on reproductive justice and politics in Louisiana, specifically. I came into this internship with a foundation in these topics in general, and an understanding that reproductive justice is an important issue in Louisiana, however, I did not fully understand how these issues played out, especially in the political realm. Furthermore, prior to this internship, I had held other internship positions before, however, they were not in the professional world to this extent. I honestly had not worked with this many full-fledged employed adults before, and seeing how they interact and get work done in their professional lives has been incredibly rewarding and inspiring for me.
Doing this internship while dealing with a fairly academically stressful semester at school has taught me a lot about time management, and how/where I work best. I now have a proper schedule for when I do my schoolwork/work for other extracurriculars, and when I do work for my internship. Because I truly enjoy the work I do for my internship, it is nice to have a break from the intense studying and instead be able to create social media designs and content that I actually enjoy making.
Overall, this experience has enabled me to learn how to work more effectively and efficiently, while enjoying the work that I am doing. I think that the most impactful thing I have done in my internship is filming the Instagram video about Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Louisiana. I got the opportunity to actually go to Women’s New Life Clinic, a crisis pregnancy center in New Orleans located right next door to Planned Parenthood, and film a video there. Preparing for and filming this video made me realize how important the discussion of reproductive justice is, especially in Louisiana, a state in which federal tax dollars go towards funding these “fake clinics”, while there is no funding that goes towards those who are seeking abortions. There are 35 CPCs in Louisiana and only three abortion clinics, which is very telling of how serious this issue is. I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to film this video as it gave me first-hand insight into how important and pressing the fight for reproductive justice is in Louisiana.
I plan to go to medical school and hopefully become an OB/GYN. This internship has broadened my understanding of reproductive politics/health/justice, which has in turn given me a more well-rounded perspective and understanding of the various societal factors that impact reproductive medicine. As a Communication Intern, I have learned ways to educate the public on issues that impact Louisiana women and their families, especially in relation to reproductive justice and the disparities in reproductive health care access, through creating social media posts and toolkits. This internship has and will continue to allow me to understand the impact that media can have on public opinion, and how this contributes to the healthcare system as well when the information being spread relates to healthcare and medicine.