Choosing a way to apply one’s legal knowledge is a significant challenge for a student as there are many doubts. One may wonder what experience would be the most valuable and could look better in one’s CV. I chose to engage in a social project assisting the victims of domestic violence in my community as I understand that legal advice is not the last matter these people need.
To begin with, the activity chosen seems meaningful for the community. Although the U.S. is a progressive country, one in four its women experiences severe partner physical violence (NCADV, 2020). Hence, domestic violence stays the burning issue in the society that, noteworthy, bothers children, and the male population as well. In a word, an internship in a social project that provides legal support to the victims of this phenomenon seems to be the way to apply my knowledge and skills to make a difference. The latter is the primary goal of my legal education.
As for my expectations from this experience, they are closely related to the skills critical in the profession of a lawyer (Schultz & Zedeck, 2015). First, influencing and advocating seem to an outsider as the primary items learned in such circumstances. Activists usually encourage victims to stop the violence by escaping the environment and provide them with legal advice and moral support. Secondly, problem-solving seems to be a vital skill as well as this practice may have many unpredictable scenarios considering the possible actions of an abuser. Thirdly, I believed I would become better in stress management as this sensitive sphere of work requires such an ability. Therefore, starting the internship, I expected to acquire the skills highly valued in the profession of a lawyer.
Speaking of the experience itself, I practiced in providing legal advice to the ones in need. For instance, a victim could call a legal helpline in order to understand their rights, how to access the relevant services. My job also included developing a safety plan with the victims, advocating the referrals to community providers, and, broadly speaking, crisis intervention. In a word, it was an outstanding experience that was quire dissimilar with the ordinary projects that involve law students. Nevertheless, it provided me with an opportunity to apply my legal expertise to real-life cases and help people.
Furthermore, it is vital to discuss the actual lessons learned from this practice. First, my practice met the expectations of the skills I would develop during this time. Indeed, I believe I managed to improve stress management in the first place, as well as influencing, advocating, and problem-solving abilities. However, I had not explicitly expected brushing up my communication skills, specifically speaking and listening (Schultz & Zedeck, 2015). As a result, I feel much more confident on any occasion when I need to convince or inspire a person. Hence, this experience could be said to be one of the most meaningful in my professional life.
Finally, one may pose a question of how this experience would influence my future career. On the one hand, it improved my knowledge on the issue of domestic violence and the possible volunteer help that can be provided by anyone. This might even affect the direction of my professional development. On the other hand, I once again reassured that the path of legal education I had chosen some time ago was the right one for me as I can feel passionate about my work. In other words, it was not a life-changing experience, but definitely made me a better specialist and a better person.
To conclude, the valuable practice I went through dealt with the social issue of domestic violence, which is still a significant challenge in U.S. society. Though what I expected from this experience – improvement of my skills in stress management and advocating – was correct, it was not comprehensive at all. Therefore, I managed to learn a more important lesson that will definitely affect my professional and personal life.
References
NCADV. (2020). National statistics domestic violence factsheet. NCADV: Web.
Schultz, M., & Zedeck, S. (2015). 26 lawyering effectiveness factors. Alumni GGU: Web.