Having the opportunity to work at Attorney Virginia Lee’s office as a high-schooler was life changing to say the least. This position really marked the start of my transition to becoming an adult.
Virginia expects the very best out of her employees. She gives you real responsibility and in turn you become an effective, mature and confident person.
When I worked for Virginia as part of her legal internship program, my real-world writing skills improved ten-fold and I became extremely organized, which helped boost my confidence. She regularly required me to do my own research and procure documents on my own that we needed to support our clients. That included calling other lawyers, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, police and fire departments and whomever else as needed. In the beginning I felt like “some kid” who couldn’t speak without faltering even on the telephone, but by the time I left my position at Virginia’s office I truly felt like my communication skills and confidence had gone through the roof. I could write out professional emails and legal documents with so much more ease and talk to absolutely anyone without feeling intimidated.
What working at Virginia’s really instilled in me was that asking questions, listening, doing the work and advocating for yourself and others is incredibly important in learning and growing as a person.
Beyond this, Virginia really supports each intern in a personal manner too. She wants everyone to succeed and looks out for each person so much. While working for Virginia, I successfully ran for my high-school’s class presidency and I remember the help that Virginia gave me to perfect the speech I used to run with. I was interested in the digital industry and graphic design so when I worked with her she connected me with a web designer. She gave me the opportunity to help design her website, work on search engine optimatization and whatever else I wanted to learn in that space. She supported my goals even if I wasn’t working on legal cases. I ended up pursuing this industry in college and beyond and I can say this is head-start gave me a leg up when I started working for major technology companies.
When I started applying for colleges, Virginia helped me decide where to apply, helped me with my essays and offered to write a letter of recommendation.
I cannot underscore enough how much working for Virginia made me grow as a person personally and professionally. Virginia treated me with the utmost respect and celebrated my successes. So if you get a internship or job working with Virginia, TAKE IT! It really is so much more than a part-time job or even a development program.