Hello! It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the fellowship, but here we are. After five weeks of learning, working, and growing at the Legal Aid of Southeastern and Central Ohio, I am happy to say that this has been a great experience so far with incredibly talented people who has helped me in appreciating how a legal nonprofit like LASCO runs.

In my fifth week, things were a little disjointed due to the holiday and some of the full-time staff taking their vacations, but I was still faced with responsibilities that I had to fulfill, even though it may be through lighter supervision. However, I still kept myself working despite this and enjoyed the opportunity to work through problems myself when I did not have someone to rely on for easy answers at a moment’s notice.

For example, these past two weeks I have been working through a project that involves transforming the organization’s outreach materials into something that more accurately reflects the organization post-merger. While I waded through the documents and materials, I constantly had to work through problems on my own and get crafty with how I balance my approach, along with coordinating with staff I do not usually work with. In the end, I believe it was a great learning experience.

Looking towards the future, I expect things to return to normal; however, I look to keep applying an experimental yet focused attitude to how I approach my work. Besides these normal tasks, I am excited to get more experience in LASCO’s outreach events, possibly including a clinic that focuses on record sealing and expungement! I very much hope to attend this clinic, as it would continue the exposure that I began two weeks ago. Furthermore, I might have the opportunity to visit a court, being either the bankruptcy or eviction court—either possibility I would be excited to experience.