Gabrielle Espy: What the Internship Program Has Meant to Me

Good Morning. I am Gabrielle Espy and I am a rising third-year law student at the University of Georgia School of Law. I am an alumna of the Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program, having interned in 2007, 2009 and 2010. I was the third member of my family to Intern in the Summer Law Internship Program. My older brother Fred, now a Commander and Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy, interned in 2001 with Hawkins & Parnell.  My older sister Nicole, now pursuing her PhD at Harvard, interned in 2005 with Alston & Bird.  My Dad was the ROTC Commander at Southwest Dekalb High School for numerous years and many of his students successfully interned in the Summer Law Internship Program.
 
This morning I speak on “What The Internship Program Has Meant To Me,” and three things come to mind: confidence, a path in life, and mentors.  Because of the program, I received the fabulous opportunity to intern with the Georgia Supreme Court in 2007, with Nancy Whaley, the Standing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee of Atlanta in 2009, and with Buckley & Klein in 2010. Since interning in the program I have attended and graduated on a full scholarship from Washington & Lee University and participated in legal internships every summer since.
 
First, the Summer Law Internship Program gave me confidence.
 
I have seen Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program create confident students leaders in others and in myself. I first participated in the Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship program in 2007, when I was 16 years old. I was young, shy and had yet to find my voice. During each weekly meeting, I dreaded being called on, because my heart would pound quickly, my cheeks would feel flushed, and my mind would go blank. I had a slight stutter, spoke too quickly, and mumbled through most of my words. Whenever I was called, I would give my favorite answer: “pass.” But through the encouraging words from Natasha Silas, Nekia Hackworth and Wade Malone, I began to feel more confident in myself, my abilities and my voice. Each weekly meeting and internship experience, further increased my confidence as a worker, as a student, and soon, as a legal professional. The internship forces students to put themselves out there and encourages students to speak up. The program provides the opportunity for students to become leaders not only in the program, but when they return to school in the fall. I have seen firsthand how the program instills the thought in students that they can be capable of anything as long as they work hard, remain steadfast, and continue to pursue their dreams. And this ability of the program is what allows students, like myself, to become more confident and more capable.
 
Second, the Summer Law Internship Program gave me a path in life.
 
Before I became involved with Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program, I had a general idea of what I wanted to do in life, but it was foggy. From the first week of my internship at the Supreme Court of Georgia, I knew a future in the legal profession was my calling. Without the Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program, I may never have pursued a legal career or interned in a legal office. The internship program provided an opportunity which allowed me to understand where I wanted my life to go and a goal to seek. It was something that provided me a reason to get my homework done, a reason to work hard to get into a good college and law school, and a reason to get up in the morning when I wanted to press the snooze button. The Summer Law Internship Program gave me a foundation, the motivation and relationships that have led me on this journey to become an Atlanta attorney.
 
Third, the Summer Law Internship Program provided me a group of mentors.
 
The Summer Law Internship Program not only encourages the students to work hard while at the office but to work hard on getting to know the people around them. From the speakers at weekly meetings, to workers in the office, to those in this room today, the program introduces students to a vast community of individuals. The Internship Program allows complete strangers to become lifetime friends.
 
Since its founding, the Internship Program has sponsored an extraordinary number of interns and has provided a challenging experience to interns through the opportunity to work in the law. The program creates strong, confident leaders and relationships that will last a lifetime, and I am certain that interns throughout the years have had an equally rewarding experience.
 
Thank you mentors, sponsors, and Mrs. Silas, Ms. Hackworth and Mr. Malone. The Atlanta Bar Association Summer Law Internship Program is a wonderful experience that has benefited past students, the 2015 current students, and will benefit future students. I would also like to congratulate the interns for your hard work and successful completion of your internships.
 
The internship opens the door of opportunity.  Interns, now that the door is open, what will you do? Will you let the door slam behind you or will you open the door for someone else? You all have had a door opened, been lent support, motivation. As your internship draws to a close, a new chapter is about to begin. You are not the same individual you were when you began the internship. I ask that you all seize on this opportunity to fullest.
 
As I close, I would like to give the Interns a small piece of advice: never give up, always work your hardest, and a smile will take you a long way

Remarks of SLIP Alumnus Archie Wilson Jr.

Good morning! First and foremost, on behalf of all the interns that have participated in the 2015 Atlanta Bar Association Summer Internship Program, it is my honor and privilege to deliver remarks this morning.

I am Archie Wilson, Jr. and I am a 2015 graduate of Dominion Christian High School in Marietta, Georgia. I will be attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Wesleyan Connecticut in the fall as a Gates-Millennium Scholar as well as a Wide Receiver on the Wesleyan football team. I have been a two-time intern in this program.  In my first summer, I interned at Gideon’s Promise with John Rapping and Illham Askia. This summer I interned at the law firm of Alston & Bird with Francine Shannon. I was thoroughly blessed to be able to intern at both Gideon's Promise and Alston & Bird under great supervisors and mentors.

Well, enough about me, these remarks are really a way for the 2015 Interns to acknowledge and thank all the people who invested in us this summer, the twenty-third straight summer for the Summer Law Internship Program. Every person in this room has been essential to our growth and development as interns, but also as people as we continue on our personal journeys.

First, I would like to thank the parents of the Interns. If you do not hear thank you enough from your own child, I am saying thank you for them on their behalf. Thank you for all the sacrifices you all have made for us this summer and just throughout our lives in general. Thank you for sacrificing sleep, time, and your gas money to make sure that we could succeed in this Internship Program. As teenagers, we do not thank you all enough for everything you do for us, but today we thank you for being our rocks and backbones throughout this whole summer.

Secondly, I would also like to thank all of the supervisors and mentors that we have worked with this summer. People always teach the phrase “pay it forward” and “give back” but many times people only do these things as periodic community service projects. There is nothing wrong with that if that is you! But the point I am making is that our supervisors and mentors live a lifestyle of “paying it forward.” These people, with all of their professional success, still have a special place in their hearts for students like us who want to chase our dreams but need someone to help guide us. Our supervisors and mentors are people who do not see this program as a six-week babysitting job but as a life-changing, mind-shaping opportunity to develop young talent and polish us into young professionals that can flourish in their fields of interest. Our supervisors and mentors have shown us how to be true professionals. We thank you for dedicating your precious and valuable time to the Interns. We are forever grateful.

I want to especially thank my own supervisor and mentor this summer, Francine Shannon, for teaching me so much and being so kind to me.

Thirdly, I would like to thank the law firms, corporations and sponsors who helped sponsor this program and made this Internship Program possible and allowing us to get paid. You have given the Interns such a terrific opportunity to learn and grow this summer.  We thank you so much for allowing this program to be a paid internship because honestly the experience and the knowledge that we acquired alone is more than sufficient.

I would like to thank all the guest speakers for coming to our meetings to share your life stories with us and everything that they have experienced in their legal careers up to this point. We had speakers from many different areas of the law. We had former teachers, to current law students, former Interns in this program and even Harold Franklin, the President of the Atlanta Bar Association.  We learned so much from all of you.

Finally, we would like to thank our coordinators Natasha Silas, Nekia Hackworth, Mariana Pannell and Wade Malone for all that you all have done for the Interns this summer. We thank you for taking eight weeks out of your spinning and always complex lives to coordinate this Internship Program. We cannot truly articulate our gratitude and we want you all to know that your time was much appreciated.

How many parents have asked your child how their day was at their Internship? How many got a one-word answer or a short response? Well, I am here to be your child’s work day translator. When your child said that their day was "good" it really means that I probably interviewed potential clients, visited court, made great strides on my legal projects I was given, met many interesting people around the office, had an engaging and educational dialogue with my mentor or I just really enjoyed being in a great legal and working environment or some or all of the above. Oh, did I mention I got a delicious free lunch? 

If your child said that their day was "stressful", what they really mean is that they probably accepted one too many assignments, shredded an important document by accident, maybe they printed 300 copies of a document when only one was needed, maybe they locked themselves out of the office or spilled coffee on themselves or some or all of the above.  That is what a "stressful" day entails in the eyes of an Intern.

If your child tells you that they are "tired," what they really mean is that everything that I mentioned previously in both the "good day" and the "stressful day" probably all happened today and now we see why our parents are frequently tired. With all of these life experiences, in between writing thank you letters to our speakers and weekly "Enrichment" which closely resembles what we call "Homework" during the school year, along with a 700 word Essay we had to write about a recent United States Supreme Court decision, needless to say we all learned a great deal and had a small taste of the real world as working individuals. 

In conclusion, as I previously stated, I am a two-time intern and I am so proud of this Internship Program. In my first year, we had 40 interns and could barely fit in a room and we all thought that this was so many people. Now, look at this Internship Program just two years later, 49 interns strong and the Intern Program is just getting better and better each year. I will be proud to be an alumnus of this program and I cannot wait for my own chance to give back and be involved with this Internship Program in the future.

To my fellow Interns, I urge you to not forget this opportunity, this moment, and the people we have all met this summer.  We are so fortunate and blessed to have been in the places we were in this summer and to experience what we did. I urge you to take this summer and use it as a springboard into your junior year or senior year in high school or freshman year in college. Let the lessons from this summer be used and applied in your everyday lives. Let this program give you confidence and reassurance that you will never be alone in your pursuits from now on.

I want to end with this quote. “If people are not laughing and scoffing at your dreams, they are not big enough.” My fellow interns dream big, reach high and know that wherever you go that you always be a part of this amazing Atlanta Bar Association family where the dreams that others may have scoffed at one day are not only encouraged but fostered towards success.

Thank you. 

SLIP 23 Interns Attend Atlanta Bar Association 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

Some our 2015 Interns were privileged  to attend an event on August 10, 2015, at Emory Law School celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act .  They are photographed here with civil rights icon  Congressman John Lewis and  2015-2016 Atlanta Bar Association President Harold Franklin.