Working at the MCAD

Two weeks ago, I began my summer internship as an Enforcement Intern at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. I am so lucky this summer because not only do I have a great internship where I feel my work will actually matter and make a difference, but I am working with 3 of my closest friends from law school. In addition, it's one of those jobs where every day is different and you don't know what to expect. My responsibilities are mainly reviewing claim files (most are a year or two old) and making determinations on whether it is more likely than not that discrimination occurred. Unfortunately for confidentiality reasons I can't actually share details of any of my files on here, but in general, some of the cases leave me appalled at the employer's actions, while others have me laughing at the complainant.

Although I only work from 9-5 with an hour break for lunch, I am usually exhausted by the time I get home, and struggle to do anything with my night besides watch TV and go to bed. Twice per week, I take Spanish lessons at the Boston Language Institute after work. One of the best parts of learning a language through the Institute instead of in mandatory school language classes is that everyone wants to be there and is really trying, so we get through much more material. There are two reasons I am learning Spanish. I have spoken with many lawyers at big law firms recently about practicing international law and am continually told that South America is the new frontier for legal expansion, so I need to speak Spanish to be successful. Another reason is that my boyfriend Camilo is from Bogota, Colombia, and he has family and friends who don't speak much or any English, so I need to speak Spanish to eventually communicate with them. On the first day of class, the instructor asked each of us students why we wanted to speak Spanish, and of course the second reason was easier for me to say, so I replied "mi novio es de Bogota, Colombia." Well, of the 8 students there, half of us have boyfriends in Spanish-speaking countries! It has become someone of a running joke in the class, and the instructor uses our boyfriends in many examples. It personalizes the class for the 4 of us, but the other day when we were discussing our emotions, a middle-aged woman in class from Haiti said she was sad because she is all alone; I hope our constant discussion of our relationships isn’t making her even sadder.

In addition to the classes, I managed to make it out of my apartment last Monday night to have dinner with a couple of BC friends. I met Jenn and Erin at Tasca, and we ran into four other fellow band members from BC, so the 7 of us had dinner together and a great time finally catching up! After dinner, Erin and I went to see another friend perform in concert with his band. The BC Marching Band, which she and I were members of all 4 years at BC, is composed of about 80% BC students and 20% other Boston students (high school and other colleges). This allows us to meet students from other schools, including our friend Nick Butt who went to Berklee School of Music. When Nick graduated from Berklee, he joined a band playing the upright bass and they had their first gig at the Middle East music hall in Cambridge Monday evening. In the 5 years I’ve known Nick, the impression I had was that he would probably join some sort of metal rock band, so although it’s not my favorite type of music, at least I had mentally prepared myself for something of that nature. Well, to the surprise of Erin and me, he was actually a member of a bluegrass band. Again, it’s not my favorite type of music, but the band was really impressive and they wrote some great music. We had a great time and will hopefully get to see them perform again.

The Western Powers, Nick on the right with the upright bass (photo credit Erin)

I have been trying to use my weekends to really enjoy summer since clearly I can’t do much during the week. Last weekend Camilo and I went to the beach at Watch Hill, RI, on Saturday. It was a bit chilly and cloudy, but there were still a few other people there with us, and it was a perfect day to nap on the sand, throw a football a bit, and walk along the water. On Sunday it was much nicer out, but my parents were in town to celebrate my mom’s birthday with us so we stayed in Boston.

Relaxing on the beach

Gorgeous day for her birthday

This weekend we also took advantage of the sun by going down to East Hampton today to celebrate Father’s Day with my dad out on the water! Spending 4 hours driving was not terrific, especially when it was pretty warm in Connecticut but cool in Boston, but my dad was thrilled to have me home for the day and we all had a great day on the lake.

Beautiful day on the lake