As I am writing this article, I have just finished a 3 week long law internship with a local law firm in Biloxi , Mississippi. After struggling through science classes as a biology major this year, I was so ready to get into a law office and get down to business, learning things that I would be able to apply to the career that I want to pursue. It was a great experience, but not the experience that I thought that I was going to have. Here are the jobs that I had and how they became my life from 9 to 5 for almost a month:
1. The early bird.
Getting up the very first morning of my internship, I jumped out of bed at 7 a.m., raring to go. You best believe that I was getting that worm. I made myself a little fruit parfait with berries, yogurt, and granola, hopped in my car and sped on over to the firm. I was met with sleepy good mornings from the employees, who laughed a little at my excitement at a job that they had been working at for years. As a young intern fresh on the job, however, I didn't really notice. Until the next week.
2. The coffee junkie.
Getting up at 7 a.m. five days a week does not come easily for many, least of all me. I quickly made lots of friends at the coffee shop next to the firm. It got to the point where I had almost filled a loyalty card by the time that I left the job. Expect to develop a little coffee addiction for any internship that requires you to get up before noon.
3. The receptionist.
My eager mood was met by a big formidable brown desk. I then proceeded to sit for three hours, wait for the phone to ring, and take a couple of messages. I kept myself busy on the laptop, but when that phone rang, it was my time to shine. I organized my notepad into three columns: one for names, one for numbers, and one for the messages. There is not a more professional feeling than when you smoothly get through taking a message with no stutters or mistakes. It can't get much better than that, right?
4. The shredder (and not of waves).
Well, I was wrong. Shortly after the receptionist that I was filling in for returned from her vacation, I was put onto shredder duty. And by that, I mean that I was given a box spilling over with papers dating from 2011 and beyond and told to shred them. Let me just say: if I ever lay eyes on a shredder again, I might cry. I was put into an endless cycle of shred, shred, wait 30 minutes until the shredder isn't overheated anymore, shred, shred. It was not the glamorous law intern life that I had been expecting to live, but I still got to be in a law office and that is all that mattered.
5. The organizer.
While taking a break from piles of shredded papers, I visited with papers that needed to be saved, but had been stacked haphazardly nevertheless. The process included putting the files into piles based on company or client, creating and labeling a folder for each pile, and packing them into boxes. I also got to get online and create packing labels for each box for easy identification in the future. While the work seemed monotonous, getting to look over law documents was actually very educational.
6. The errand runner.
One role that I anticipated, but did not want to believe, was this one right here. If there was a file to be found, I was your girl. Need me to book a flight? Here I am. I had to learn how to do anything and everything around the office. This is pretty standard of interns so if you are looking to pursue a law internship or any internship, beware. You will become everyone's errand girl. One of the partners in the firm was running for district court judge, so I wrote 700+ post-it notes for him to tape onto voters' doors that said to vote for him. 700+ times writing a relatively lengthy message makes for a very tired hand.
7. The prosecutor.
This one is just for us law interns. The day finally came for me to go to court. I was to accompany the city prosecutor to municipal court just to observe what goes on in the small courtroom. The prosecutor, however, convinced me that I was going to be handling traffic claims in the court. Without a law degree or actual law experience. I was absolutely terrified. I scoured google for how to prosecute beforehand and came up with mostly nothing, but it turned out that he was kidding with me. I about had a heart attack, but absolutely thrived in court anyway. Even though most of the charges were either minor or pre-trial, it was so exciting to see defendants come before the judge and to get to interact with them.
This experience was very different from anything that I have ever experienced before, but it was extremely educational in learning the profession that I want to be a part of. If anyone reading this is looking to get into an internship, I suggest either consulting your local career center or your campus's equivalent or consult your friends and family members who have local connections to businesses you'd be interested in working with. Experience is experience, no matter how trivial, so take it where you can get it! Happy interning!
