My Extended Break

My weeks of DukeEngage Miami have, so far, passed largely uneventfully because the organization I am working with, the Florida Justice Institute (FJI), is having its interns start on June 1st. I have received a few communications about onboarding, but my involvement with Engage in May is mostly only with my cohort and our activities. However, our first speaker on Thursday happened to be the Executive Director of FJI, Dante Trevisani. Since being placed with FJI, I have done a good bit of independent research on the group, so I was already broadly familiar with many of the issues he spoke of. That said, it was still very much engaging to hear the detail he went into, as well as to see how he spoke about his work. I was particularly interested by his emphasis on the way that FJI’s casework for prisoners rights can highlight the costs and requirements of the prison system for Florida lawmakers, and hopefully provoke legislative change in that way. More generally, this talk was another instance of how I continue to find what I learn about FJI’s actions inspiring and galvanizing, so I am really quite excited to get into the swing of things and start work next week! I know some of the other interns have had variable experiences with their organizations’ orientation strategies, but it seems like FJI will have me well-prepared, so hopefully all will go smoothly!