Evaluating the Summer
[Above: Erica, two other D4D interns, and I]
D4D summer interns are from all over the world - we have a grad student from the New School in New York, two public policy students from the University of Chicago, an international studies major from Wheaton College in Illinios, a Dutch crisis studies grad student who is working on his second master's degree at Uppsala Unviersity in Sweden, a British political science student from Durham University in northern England, three local Kosovar interns, and myself. I was the first of the summer interns to arrive at D4D, so it's been fun to watch the office slowly fill up as the summer has progressed. Now, though, as the weeks pass by and other interns leave for their respective countries, I'm experiencing the not-so-fun part of saying goodbye. As strange as it is to see the other interns leave, it's even stranger to think that in two short weeks, I'll leave Kosovo as well.
Since so many interns are preparing to depart, our boss took us out for a very nice traditional Albanian lunch at Pishat the other day to evaluate how the internship was for each of us. My boss was very kind to invite us to such a nice lunch, and it was also helpful to reflect on what has been accomplished this summer and what can be improved for future internships.
The day after the lunch with our boss, I was having coffee with a woman who works at the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). This individual has an amazing public international law career, so I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about her and benefit from her advice. She was asking me about how the internship was going, so I told her about my work on the Rule of Law paper and the research I'm doing for the EULEX judge. She told me that the field experience I'm getting will be very beneficial if I do hope to build a public international law career. Since I hope to have a non-traditional, non-firm legal career at this point in time, I sometimes question what experiences are the most useful to help me achieve my goals. Her affirmation made me appreciate even more my experiences from this summer.
The above picture is of some of my lovely co-workers who I'm not looking forward to saying bye to in a few weeks. Another great thing about Pristina is the numerous, inexpensive restaurants that make office lunches an almost everyday event. Some of my favorite memories are bonding with my co-workers during the lunch hour. Looking back, I'm grateful for what I've learned to help me further my career this summer, but getting to meet so many wonderful people is probably what I'll look back on and remember most vividly several years from now.
This post is more sentimental than my others, but three interns are leaving this week, so it's the topic that is most on my mind. Two weeks - I have to make the most of it that I can!