One Student’s Summer as a CLCM Intern
With back to school season officially underway, the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts is saying goodbye to our Summer 2026 interns. That includes Claire, a rising college senior, law school-hopeful, and a member of our most recent internship cohort. During her time with CLCM, Claire helped with key pieces of each advocacy area, handling everything from client intake screenings to research on country conditions for immigration cases. Before she left, we had a chance to hear her reflections on the experience!
I have plans to go to law school, so I was hoping to get experience in the legal field before I fully commit. What's great about CLCM is that there are so many different practice areas – I could dabble in immigration, education, juvenile, delinquency, and family integrity, and experience a bit of everything. I also really thrive working in spaces with kids, so this was a good opportunity to combine my passion for working with this demographic with my legal interests.
I was surprised by the volume of people who needed help. One of the hardest parts of the job was getting to know people while being their first point of contact -- naturally, I'd empathize with them, so I'd be disheartened if someone was out of scope or if we couldn't help them. But there were two sides to the same coin: part of it was sad, but there were good parts as well. I also was surprised by how many cases we were able to intake. It was rewarding to hear attorneys talk about new clients and remember talking to them. I learned that it's a matter of continuing to have empathy while still maintaining my boundaries.
My other big takeaway was about inequality more generally and disparities in education. At CLCM, I could see how many students really needed IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) and 504s (disability accommodations), but schools that weren't well-funded weren't fulfilling those needs. I heard of a client who was around middle school, but their IEP goal was ridiculous for their age. Schools are really failing students by using these as a way to pass the student on to the next grade without considering what's best for them, and you can see how it contrasts with more well-funded schools.
The internship definitely gave me more drive – I got to see what working in the legal field looks like, and knowing that helps me know that I want to go into it. Some of the most valuable parts were what I was able to learn from the experiences of other people -- asking them stories, asking them about their experiences in law school. The personal experiences and anecdotes that I received in my time here really helped shape my vision for myself.
Every case we handle begins with those important initial conversations, and behind every win is hours of research that it took to get there -- interns like Claire help make that possible. As we dive into the Fall Semester, we're wishing our Summer 2026 interns the best of luck!