Shweta Shankar \u201926 wants to be a lawyer. \u201cAnyone who knows me, will tell you that.\u201d But not everyone knows why: she wants to advocate for individual stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Macalester senior recently interned at Tubman, a Twin Cities nonprofit serving survivors of domestic violence, homelessness, and trafficking. While on the job, Shankar worked with dozens of clients and attended hours of court hearings\u2014lending a listening ear and becoming a voice for domestic violence survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are some people whose name will pop up in the database, and I\u2019ll just be able to tell whose story it is that I\u2019m looking at,\u201d Shankar said. \u201cThese are experiences that I\u2019m taking with me to law school\u2014that individual stories do matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working as a criminal legal advocate for Tubman in Washington County, Shankar\u2019s responsibilities included client-facing work, data entry, and court advocacy. Supervisors worked with her to gather data on cases and then connect with clients. As their work progressed, Shankar would often find herself in the Stillwater courthouse with a case list. Sometimes she would take notes in court and report back with case updates. Other times, she would work alongside prosecutors, advocating for domestic abuse no-contact orders in front of a judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was surprised by just the amount of work I got as a college student,\u201d Shankar said. \u201cBeing able to interact with prosecutors and judges and be at court\u2014these are experiences I\u2019m pretty sure only full-time law school students get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A double major in political science and international studies with a legal studies concentration, Shankar first spotted the Tubman internship on Handshake, Macalester\u2019s career and internship services platform. Legal internships for undergraduates can be hard to find, which makes the experience much more meaningful for the senior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTubman was a place where I felt like I could actually get my foot in the door,\u201d Shankar said. \u201cBeing so centered in the courtroom, it was really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in a South Asian community, Shankar learned early on that domestic violence was often something kept very private and considered ghar ki baat<\/em> or talk of the house. At Tubman, she quickly was expected to face and discuss taboo subjects, bringing the voices of victims to the forefront. Bringing that lived experience to the legal professional, she believes, will soon benefit others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are not many people who look like me that work in that courtroom,\u201d said Shankar, a first-generation American whose parents immigrated from India. \u201cAs a South Asian woman born in America, I have to work twice as hard to get half as far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Losing her father at the age of seven, and more recently, her grandfather, Shankar says she knows how trauma can shape a life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can only imagine how domestic violence can impact somebody as trauma,\u201d she said. \u201cThis entire experience has taught me that I am where I\u2019m meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After spending weeks in a courtroom, Shankar says she\u2019s learned a lot about what it takes to be a lawyer. From client communication to data entry, she\u2019ll bring new skills to whatever comes next. One of her biggest lessons, after working on cases involving serious trauma, was how to compartmentalize work and prioritize practicing self-care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeing able to focus on a tough case, and saying, now I have to move on, taking those skills and moving forward will be super important,\u201d Shankar said. \u201cAnd also the importance of surrounding myself with people, who may not always understand exactly what I\u2019m going through, but are always going to be my support system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pre-law student is headed to American University this September to pursue her J.D. But first, in her final semester at Mac, she will intern at the Hennepin County Public Defender\u2019s Office. After working alongside prosecutors at Tubman, the new opportunity will offer Shankar a look at how defense teams represent their clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter where she ends up, Shankar believes that every voice deserves to be heard. And she\u2019s on the right path to supporting those in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s where I think my experience with Tubman came at such a great time,\u201d Shankar said. \u201cI understand the value of an individual\u2019s story and advocating for that client. So when I do end up practicing law, I\u2019ll now have that as a foundation.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Shweta Shankar ’26 recently interned at Tubman, a Twin Cities nonprofit serving survivors of domestic violence, homelessness, and trafficking.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":875,"featured_media":31523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[205,681],"class_list":["post-31521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","tag-internships","tag-legal-studies","mediatype-articles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"fields":{"main_feature_story":"","custom_image":false,"custom_link_url":"","custom_feature_title":"","custom_feature_caption":"","custom_markup":"","custom_markup_link":"","custom_markup_title":"","custom_markup_caption":"","byline":"","article_type":[8],"post_thumbnail_style":"default","flickr_photoset_id":"","youtube_id":"","square_thumbnail":false,"press_downloads":false,"press_photos":false,"story_title":"","story_caption":"","rotations":false,"maps":false,"marker_title":"","marker_text":"","geographic_location":false,"feature_embed":"","news_icon_name":"","image_options":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31525,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31521\/revisions\/31525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Building a foundation in advocacy work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n