Overall, I have had such an amazing experience working with the Polanco law firm! On this last day of work experience, I continued to work on many of the projects I have spent my time working on this week. I closed cases on the online data base, renamed files, made copies and did a myriad of other small tasks. Then, I spent the afternoon working with one lawyer to organize her cases. She asked me to try to determine which ones were open and which ones were closed. This is a little bit trickier than it sounds, I had to dig through her notes to try and determine if the case was finished. However, I was proud of myself because over the course of these 2 weeks I have learned enough about this firm to know what “VD granted” and “MCH on this date” mean and say about the case’s status. Today was also great because this lawyer that I have been working also ate lunch with me. Usually, I ate lunch with the other interns, but today I got to have a really meaningful conversation during lunch about law school and why one person would enter into this profession. It was nice to get to know better and more personally someone I had been working with for the last 2 weeks. If that was my last day at the firm, I would sincerely be sad to be leaving. I have learned so much these past 2 weeks about the everyday life of a lawyer, the importance of immigration law, the state of immigration and human rights for migrants in our country, the ins-and-outs of a law office, and so much more! I think the most meaningful thing I witnessed was the passion and joy that each individual I met found in their work. It was amazing to be welcomed with open arms into the Polanco law family and to see not just their work life but their motivation and drive and sympathy for their clients. I am truly excited that I will be able to spend more time working with them this summer and cannot wait to see what other things I will learn and experience.
