Legal Research by Alyssa

Legal Research by Alyssa - July 2026 Scholarship Essay

During my summer I spent 6 weeks at an internship designed to educate the youth on the court system in our district. This felt like a job not because of the long hours I have worked, but because of the huge amount of learning and commitment I put into each task and assignment given to me as someone who was unaware of how the legal system worked.

At the beginning of my internship, I felt uncertain. Uncertain about engaging in legal discussions, communicating professionally with my law clerks and the judge, and disoriented when everyone around me used an abundance of legal terms. I felt disconnected from the other interns because of how little I knew about law. As I observed legal cases and researched about court processes each day; I realized that in order to fully get involved in the program, I would need to take the time outside of this internship to educate myself on the terms used in daily discussions and strengthen my ability to apply new knowledge when speaking to professionals.

As the internship continued and I understood the proper terms; I transitioned from just an observer to an active learner. I became confident in the questions I asked, the discussions I started, and the interviews I initiated with attorneys, law clerks, and judges in their primary field. I was able to fully analyze the legal cases being shown to me, I could write notes more effectively and complete assignments with better confidence in my responses.

Being in this internship has expanded my knowledge and changed my way of thinking and how I speak to others. If I did not take the time that summer to look into a subject unfamiliar to what I was used to, my critical thinking skills would not have improved as much as they did. Putting myself in a new environment allowed me to grow academically and showed me that the best way to get connected is by being curious and confident in myself.