Second Post..
Have you ever talked to someone and just got an overwhelming sense of right and wrong, coupled with the idea that you are on the side of right? Today, I did. Today, I went to a meeting put on by the Public Interest Law Fund (PILF) at the my University. The purpose of this meeting was to expose each of us to some interesting people working on behalf of indigent populations around the state. I left the meeting thinking, gosh I hope my man doesn't want to marry me for the money. This is because if doing the work makes me feel as good as talking about it, I may have just found my calling. Here are the jobs that they talked about that sounded most interesting to me...
Intern with one of the civil legal aid clinics around the state and help them deal with whatever cause of action walks through the front door. This job could entail going in front of administrative boards to do medical benefits cases, or simply making phone calls to get creditors to stop harassing people.
Take on a research project to help convince the state legislature that poor people should get the state to help pay for some of their legal costs. The fact that we are one of 7 states that doesn't do this now is astonishing in and of itself. Couple that with the fact that small claims court is difficult and only for claims less that $500, and the fact that hiring an attorney only becomes practical again when you cross something like a $6000 threshold. Our state is not being nice.
There are of coarse the local legal services programs. One that is basically a student run version of the state program (from what I can tell), and one that is domestic violence related. Both of these programs sound more interesting than some crappy high paying internship with a firm that wants me to write wills and contracts all summer (not that such work doesn't have its place).
And hey, if I was really in it for the money, would I have hung onto a job working to recruit and study gay men? Or would I have spent the many hours I do planning events and going to meetings on behalf of Spectrum? The answer is, only if I were crazy. And I like to think, although I am not convinced, that I am NOT crazy.
posted by ZEUS @ 1:45 PM,
