The Grind

Based on my interpretation of WWCCSD? (What Would Cornell Career Services Do?), I spent all morning Monday primping, preparing, and generally looking professional to start my First Legal Internship Ever--this may or may not have included an attempt to iron a shirt with a hair straightener. I was very nervous, yet not sure what to imagine--a crack team of elite human rights enforcers, all in pristine jumpsuits, perhaps? A do-gooder CEO of sorts, monitoring my every move with an iron fist?

Whatever you would call my new office, my excessive preparation, both physically and emotionally, was proven laughable immediately upon arrival. After I had been deposited in the basement where the reproductive rights unit is, so the greeter lady could figure out who was supposed to meet me, Maria, a young Polish full-time employee, happened to wander through. She was the one who had told me to come in at that time, yet, seemed rather bewildered as to what to do with me. She said my supervisor would be in Tuesday, so there wouldn't be much to do then...so we both agreed that I should leave to buy clothes, which I did.

Today was a bit of a different story, but it was still far from the Fortune 500 non-profit of my imagination. I got in around 10:00, read a book on international law that I had brought with me until 12:00 or so...minus the hour that I spent chatting with other interns (who are very nice and, unlike in one of my many apprehensions, did not ostracize me socially). Then my supervisor got in. She is a whirlwind of productivity in a bright blue kurti with matching eyeliner. I'm glad to be working under her. So after my leisurely lunch of takeout with the other interns (I was slightly surprised that there wasn't more inter-nationality mingling) (I ate chicken tikka, sort of boring), she sat down with me and gave me an overview of how the organization has been trying to take on maternal mortality issues. Oh, the statistics I can share with you...and I will, but the jet lag, she is taking me.