The incredible work that PESA does in our community wouldn’t be possible without the continued dedication and hard work of our amazing High School Ambassadors. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Anastasia and Carter, who interned with us this summer and have remained involved with PESA during the academic year.
Anastasia is a junior at John Burroughs High School, where she is a member of the varsity water polo team, the Burbank Student Mental Health Board, and the school’s chapter of the California Scholarship Federation. Carter is a junior at Palisades Charter High School, where he is the President of the Model United Nations Team, a member of the Envirothon Team and the Queer Student Union. In addition to these extracurriculars and their academic coursework, both Anastasia and Carter are actively involved with the Teen Court program at their respective high schools.
We asked them both to answer a few questions to help us gain insight into their experience with PESA and future plans:
In what ways has PESA impacted you and what was your favorite part of interning?
- Anastasia: Interning with PESA gave me an amazing opportunity to both learn and participate in the California legal system as a Teen Court juror. I was required to analytically think about the law and listen with empathy. I am grateful to have learned so many valuable skills from PESA and its staff.
- Carter: PESA has impacted me in so many ways from introducing me to new career opportunities to connecting me with amazing mentors. My favorite part is how flexible everyone is and how there’s always fulfilling and useful work for me to do!
What kind of projects are you working on at your school and how did you transfer the skills you learned during your PESA internship onto these projects?
- Anastasia: I use the leadership and critical thinking skills I gained during my internship everyday as the co-president of my school’s Teen Court Club. I help provide guidance to first year members who are unfamiliar with the Teen Court process and plan activities to familiarize them with vocabulary. Most importantly, I do my best to get them to be empathetic and listen to the cases without forming assumptions.
- Carter: One of the biggest ways my knowledge from PESA has been able to impact my extracurriculars are the leadership skills I’ve gained and improved throughout the program.
What are you looking forward to in your upcoming educational journey, and what are your career aspirations?
- Anastasia: I am beyond excited to attend college in a couple of years and continue my academic journey! Completing this internship helped me realize that I want to pursue a career in the law and that there are a wide variety of legal professions to choose from. Specifically, Dr. Michael Johnson’s insightful discussion about his career in social work opened my eyes to all the possibilities.
- Carter: In terms of academics, I am looking forward to attending a 4-year university where I intend to major in Environmental Science. After that, I’m thinking about law school, which I got interested in through PESA!
We are so thankful to have the support of our high school ambassadors as we advance our mission to create a better future for our community through advocacy, mentorship, and education!
If you’d like to support PESA’s many social and educational initiatives, please contact us.