Three Weeks In
I have lived in the Netherlands for about three weeks now, working for International IDEA. The last three weeks have demonstrated to me how I want my future to look. My job has broaden my understanding of how one can apply a law degree. Many of the lawyers that I have meet are applying their degrees in many interesting ways. My boss is a British NYU law grad who runs the IDEA's Constitution Building Processes office in the Hague. Right after graduating from law school he found his own organization that placed law school grads with NGOs. My supervisor is a Cameroonian lawyer, who has worked for IDEA for years and recently moved to from Stockholm to Den Haag. He oversees ConstitutionNet IDEA's constitution knowledge gathering website.
Den Haag is really an international city. You are constantly meeting people from all over the world. It has reached the point that I do not ask people if they speak english, I just asume they do. The city is a melting pot of background and many lawyers come here and apply law degree ways that are taught in law schools. Sure there are people working as prosecutors and defense lawyers, but they are working for the International Criminal Court. During the course of this internship I have come to see the many opportunities available to law students. For example, I had not previously considered being a lawyer for an international organization like NATO. It had not crossed my mind that an organization like nato would need its own lawyers to make sure its actions comport with international law.