Monday, March 01, 2004
Amy Stockholm
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Amy Stockholm, intern Amy Stockholm is a nontraditional student. She is thinking about applying to law school, but she wants to be certain it is a good path for her. Amy accepted internships to help her decide. Amy became a legal advocate at Albion Fellows Bacon Center, a shelter dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. She covered the telephone crisis line; helped women file protective orders, pro se divorce paperwork, and police/sheriff reports; and escorted women to court proceedings. Following the internship she was asked to become a member of the Board of Directors for the center. Even on her worst day at the center, when she found herself listening to a crisis line call from a wife telling how her husband was sexually abusive to their children and intimidating the family, Amy knew she liked the legal environment. “I learned I wanted to be a trial lawyer,” she said. A journalism major at USI, Amy plans to graduate in May 2005 and start law school in September 2005. She carries a 3.7 GPA and is co-founder and past president of USI College Democrats. She also is historian for the Student Alumni Association. She likes to write, but she has no desire to be a journalist. “But I find the journalism program to be great preparation for being a lawyer—you have to research, compile, and condense the facts into an understandable story,” she said. “I think I’d do the same preparing for trial.” This semester Amy is a file clerk in the prosecutor’s office. “It isn’t a sexy title, but I like the office atmosphere,” she said. She is assisting in a mass organization of files, changing the system from numerical to alphabetical order. Both the legal advocate position and the clerk internship are unpaid. “I’m a certified massage therapist with Cherree Perigo and Associates,” Stockholm said. “I have a good paying position, so I can afford an unpaid opportunity.” The Castle High School graduate is the daughter of Ruth Stockholm and the late Albert Stockholm. Amy is the youngest of five children, and she is the first Stockholm sibling who will graduate from college. When she took the legal advocate position, Amy said she worried that she would become a man hater, but that didn’t happen. She said, “It made me grateful for the family I have and for their encouragement to be self-sufficient. I appreciate the opportunities they have made available for me.” “And I’ve learned the power of education. Many of the women I met had limited skills and were not able to get a job,” she added. The internship program at USI is administered by the Office of Career Services and Placement. The office is located in the Orr Center. Internships are usually completed near the end of a student’s college career. Amy has praise for the office. “The staff wants students to succeed. They are helpful with matching a student with an internship to best fit the student,” she said. |
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