The Royal Experience Summer Internship Program

Prior to starting my internship at Presidio, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never heard of the company and I didn’t know much about the technology industry. After only a few days of picking my coworkers’ brains, I gained a lot of useful insight on the technology and sales environment. To me, gaining sales insight was one number one goal coming into the internship. While I did want to learn about Presidio and what their role in the market was, I knew that I could benefit more from the internship.

Since I had limited exposure to the technology/sales environment, there were a few obstacles that I had to overcome this summer while interning at Presidio. The most challenging aspect, however, was understanding all the engineering terms that were thrown around. Provided Presidio is a technology company, there was a lot of confusing lingo being used in all the sales meetings. It was very reassuring to hear my boss tell me that he still doesn’t understand some of the terms used by the engineers. I think if I put in the time to learn about the different aspects of technology it will all eventually come full circle and make more sense to me.

The most rewarding part of the internship was shadowing my coworkers during their sales calls. Although I didn’t actively participate in the meetings (more like a fly on the wall), I gained perspective on what it’s like to be in a sales/technology environment. I learned about the importance of developing and maintaining strong client relationships. I am very grateful for the opportunity that I was given this summer to work alongside sales professionals at Presidio. I learned and absorbed so much more insight than I ever thought was possible, and for that I am forever thankful.

My experience working with Lackawanna Pro bono has given me so much to look forward to where my career goal in the legal profession is concerned, and I couldn’t be more excited. Knowing the hardships low income earners in our community face, to me, it remains my greatest joy that I got to be a part of an organization that sought to unburden these individuals of their legal issues by providing attorneys who are willing to give free legal consult and representation to 4 of every 5 eligible clients in need. I was also given the opportunity to work alongside brilliant staff including attorneys who ensured that my experience at this organization was one I will remember for a long time to come. Their encouragement and assurance that I could handle whatever task I was given have enhanced my confidence and critical thinking skills to levels I never thought possible.

The most challenging aspects of my experience this summer were instances in which I had to keep on a brave face while attending to clients whose hopes and dreams had been shattered due to the decisions they had made throughout their lives. Some of these individuals were at the verge of losing everything they had spent years building if they could not afford a lawyer or find one to take their cases Pro bono. Although these issues were sad and heartbreaking, I learned to handle such cases with grace and remain strong for clients even when they do not have any strength to carry on.  In fact, this summer has been the most rewarding and lesson-filled season of my life.

I never imagined enjoying my internship as much as I did. Every day I looked forward to learning new things and seeing what the day had in store. The employees in the Public Defender’s Office helped me to develop skills that will be useful in any career I choose. Throughout my time in the office, I also learned that a legal career is something I could see myself in for an extended period of time. I have decided that I will take the Law School Admission Test and apply to schools this year. The opportunity to have this experience has allowed me to make these decisions and see what a legal career would actually entail. Because of this, I would like to thank all of those who make the Royal Experience Internship Program possible.

Some of my time in the office included drafting petitions. These included petitions to Appoint Conflict Counsel, Modify Bail, Bail Reduction, and Lift Detainers. The most challenging part of my internship was drafting each petition similar to the style of the attorney on the case. Each attorney had distinctive information that they wanted to be included in different chronological orders. I enjoyed learning what each petition should include, what details from the case were necessary, and where to find the proper information.

I was shocked by the amount of work that the attorneys were willing to let me do on my own. The most rewarding part by far was seeing how much they trusted me to get the work they assigned done in a timely manner and with little instruction. From drafting petitions and writing letters to interviewing clients, I never felt restricted. One of my favorite assignments was going to the Lackawanna County Prison and interviewing a client who was applying to treatment court. Sitting across from an inmate with a glass wall between us talking on the phone gave me a chance to see what life was like for attorneys outside of the courthouse. This also gave me an opportunity to combine a Counseling and Human Services background with a real life legal scenario, since drug and alcohol treatment was the main goal.

Overall, I had an amazing experience that would not have been possible without the Royal Experience Internship Program. I am beyond grateful for all of the people that helped me through this. I learned plenty of real life experience and met people who inspired me through their ways of practicing law. Thank you again!

After being in a foreign country for 3 months, I can easily say that the most rewarding part of my internship was to be able to experience an entirely new culture, and fully be immersed in it. It became a standard routine, taking the subway down to the city for work, walking downtown to the office, and knowing every street name and corner. I had adjusted so quickly to life in Singapore, and surprised myself on how quickly Singapore became my home far away from home. I have learned how to use a variety of applications while working at Cresco Data, and this last month and a half I mainly focused on helping clients identify the best methods on how to best present their webpage and improve their advertisements through Google Analytics: a web analytics service that helps companies track their website traffic, such as how many customers click on their advertisements and the amount of customer visits on their website, as well as other tools such as identifying the most typed in keywords, which are words/phrases a company uses to match their ads with a client’s search request on the internet. I usually worked with Microsoft Excel, making an ROI (Return of Investment) sheet for several companies that we worked for, in addition to other tasks, such as working with my coworker on developing an Indonesian translation of our webpage for our Indonesian clients . I would say the most challenging part of my internship was to meet deadlines in time, as this can create some anxiety, but overall I was able to meet deadlines with no problem, thanks to the very relaxed work space I was in. In addition, I was able to travel to Thailand back in June, and most recently visiting Seoul, South Korea last month! Singapore is very close to many countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, the list goes on. The ability to travel easily and cheaply to some of these countries was truly such an amazing experience, one I will never forget. I encourage anyone reading this that if you have the opportunity to intern abroad in any country, take the opportunity, as you will gain an invaluable working experience, and to immerse yourself in another country for so long is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

The most rewarding part of this internship is that it has helped me reevaluate my values and mindset about several things. I have always been relatively naive about society and had a hard time accepting the reality of how horrible people can be. I always chose to see the best in people and overlook their negative characteristics. No, being positive is not a bad quality, although it can land me in a situation that could end my life if I trust the wrong person. I realized that I need to find a good balance of positivity, awareness, along with being sufficiently informed. People always joke and say that I am going to be the cop that lets the criminal sit in the front seat with me and refuses to use handcuffs because I don’t want to hurt them. Although that is an exaggerated example it does portray the type of personality I have.

The most challenging aspect of this internship would have to be that while in certain units there is not much work that you as an intern can handle primarily due to the nature of the work. I think that if I was shy and had a hard time talking to people I would not have had the experience I did. You spend much of your time talking to deputies and if you lack social skills, that can be challenging.