I consider the summer I interned at JWI to be one of the more deeply impactful times in my life. In the broadest terms, I would characterize my time at the Institute as an experience in seeing how things fit together. I got to see how ideas I’d encountered at Professor Arkes’s seminar table—ideas about the first principles of natural law, statecraft, and the American regime—were in fact the animating force behind the Professor’s work in the rough-and-tumble world of Washington politics. This gave me a deeper sense of what Prof. Arkes meant when he would describe law as the place where political philosophy comes down from the clouds, and is brought to bear on the remarkable realities of the lives of ordinary people. It helped me to appreciate that philosophical and practical reasoning need not—indeed, should not, cannot afford to—be treated as occupying distinct spheres.

As for my experience at JWI, I consider myself so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with such a dedicated, professional, and generous group of people this past summer in D.C.. My internship proved to be engaging in both its educational facets and its practical work experiences. I was fortunate enough to conduct my own interview with a constitutional law scholar on a recent book, help write an essay with a my fellow intern in which we analyzed an opinion from the Supreme Court’s summer term, and attend a variety of lectures and conferences dealing with different facets of the philosophy of law in the D.C. area.

On the practical side, I was exposed to the inner workings of a small non-profit, working alongside the staff as they went through the processes of updating their publications, running their annual summer seminar for young lawyers and law clerks, and identifying and pursuing grant opportunities from charitable foundations. These experiences all served to broaden my professional horizons and expose me to the variety of career opportunities alive within the legal professions that I had before been profoundly ignorant of.

Moreover, I would be remiss if I failed to mention how my time working in DC this summer had introduced me to what I came to know as a real community of minds--people, personalities, most importantly, friends--and a set of relationships that were grounded in a deep kind of understanding of and feeling of gratitude towards the tradition it strives to uphold, and the truths it fights to make manifest within the legal profession and public square. So, in consideration of the amazing people I was privileged to meet, the conversations I engaged, the analytical and practical skills I sharpened, and the life-experiences I was exposed to by virtue of the professional circles JWI travels within in D.C., I cannot thank everyone there enough for taking me on over the summer.

My internship with JWI opened my eyes to the inner workings of D.C. through interacting with major policy and judicial figures and researching and writing on unfolding Supreme Court cases. An internship with almost any other organization would not have provided the same intimate insight into the inner workings of D.C. that I gleaned from my time at JWI.