After spending the past year abroad with the Hamilton College Academic Year in Spain, Emily Powell '09 (Merion, Pa.) is putting her language skills to good use. Powell is working this summer as an undergraduate intern with the Safe Horizon Domestic Violence Law Project in Brooklyn, N.Y.. Her internship, she says, allows her to improve her Spanish skills and to learn about the dynamics of domestic violence, family law and public benefits.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Powell received a stipend from the Summer Internship Support Fund supported by John Rice '78, a competitive grant which is awarded every year to provide cost of living assistance to students who might have insufficient resources to fully support undertaking a summer internship.
At the Law Project, a large part of Powell's work is to interpret for Spanish-speaking clients. She serves as interpreter between the clients and their attorneys, both over the phone and in court, and calls the clients for the organization. In addition, she creates personal binders to help clients stay informed and organized with their cases, and she does administrative work in the office as well as handling daily issues like housing problems, childcare, and counseling referrals. She has travelled all over the city, visiting courts and domestic violence shelters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. "It's been really interesting to go to places like Queens and Harlem because otherwise I probably wouldn't see those parts of the city," she says.
Powell says she found out about the internship from her older sister, who works in public policy in New York City. She was initially "a little apprehensive" about working with victims of domestic violence because the topic is so difficult and upsetting, but she has found her work with the women to be inspirational. "I believe they are not to be pitied," she says, "but rather, commended for their bravery in seeking legal action against their batterers."
She emphasizes that domestic violence is a much more universal issue than is often believed. She says that personally she was deeply affected when, during a routine filing task, she entered the information for a woman born in 1986 who had two children and was filing for an order of protection against her abuser. "Imagining someone who was younger than me, caught in such a terrible situation, made the lives of domestic violence victims seem like much more of a reality to me," she says. She also notes that in spite of how isolated college can seem from the rest of the world, the Hamilton community isn't immune to the issues of domestic violence and poverty that her organization works to fight.
This is Powell's first summer internship, and she says that she has been able to learn about the legal and public benefits systems of New York, as well as understanding the effects of domestic violence and continuing to improve her Spanish. A double major in comparative literature and Hispanic studies, she plans to incorporate the skills and interests developed this summer in her continuing work at the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, where she is a Bonner Leader. She will also work as a Spanish TA in the coming year. After Hamilton, she hopes to continue working with domestic violence survivors and other social justice causes, and also to teach English in Latin America.
-- by Laura Bramley
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Powell received a stipend from the Summer Internship Support Fund supported by John Rice '78, a competitive grant which is awarded every year to provide cost of living assistance to students who might have insufficient resources to fully support undertaking a summer internship.
At the Law Project, a large part of Powell's work is to interpret for Spanish-speaking clients. She serves as interpreter between the clients and their attorneys, both over the phone and in court, and calls the clients for the organization. In addition, she creates personal binders to help clients stay informed and organized with their cases, and she does administrative work in the office as well as handling daily issues like housing problems, childcare, and counseling referrals. She has travelled all over the city, visiting courts and domestic violence shelters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. "It's been really interesting to go to places like Queens and Harlem because otherwise I probably wouldn't see those parts of the city," she says.
Powell says she found out about the internship from her older sister, who works in public policy in New York City. She was initially "a little apprehensive" about working with victims of domestic violence because the topic is so difficult and upsetting, but she has found her work with the women to be inspirational. "I believe they are not to be pitied," she says, "but rather, commended for their bravery in seeking legal action against their batterers."
She emphasizes that domestic violence is a much more universal issue than is often believed. She says that personally she was deeply affected when, during a routine filing task, she entered the information for a woman born in 1986 who had two children and was filing for an order of protection against her abuser. "Imagining someone who was younger than me, caught in such a terrible situation, made the lives of domestic violence victims seem like much more of a reality to me," she says. She also notes that in spite of how isolated college can seem from the rest of the world, the Hamilton community isn't immune to the issues of domestic violence and poverty that her organization works to fight.
This is Powell's first summer internship, and she says that she has been able to learn about the legal and public benefits systems of New York, as well as understanding the effects of domestic violence and continuing to improve her Spanish. A double major in comparative literature and Hispanic studies, she plans to incorporate the skills and interests developed this summer in her continuing work at the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, where she is a Bonner Leader. She will also work as a Spanish TA in the coming year. After Hamilton, she hopes to continue working with domestic violence survivors and other social justice causes, and also to teach English in Latin America.
-- by Laura Bramley
