This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern with the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Some of the main activities during the internship were educational and training classes on the subjects of wrongful convictions, trips over the state of Ohio meeting with people of importance relevant to OIP, events with exonerees around Ohio, and researching mental health and PTSD resources for clients.

I experienced a lot of transformations during this internship over the summer. First, a transformation that occurred within myself was my realization of my passion for justice. I always knew that I was passionate about justice and helping those involved in the criminal justice system but seeing it firsthand and now interreacting with real people who experienced injustice motivated me even more. It broke my heart to see firsthand how these lives have been affected, and it made me want to do everything possible going forward in my career to help them. I think it is really important to have a “why” in the field of social work. Why do we do what we do? Why are we helping them? Why is it important to us? This summer, I really found my “why,” and I believe that it will fuel me going forward.

The biggest event and interaction during the summer that led to this transformation was the weekend trip to Toledo. In Toledo, the Ohio Innocence Project had three newly freed clients. We planned an event to gather all the exonerees and their families together in Toledo to celebrate the newly freed clients. The event had a lot of food, live music, and a service project of making beds there. At this event, I really got to interact and get to know the exonerees and their families. I was blown away to see the way that the exonerees live their lives. It was so clear that they live their lives so grateful to be alive. They were all so full of joy and gratitude. It was also amazing to see the ways they interact with the other exonerees. They truly are a family and lean on each other. I left the event in tears because of how eye opening it was. It made me realize that I need to be more thankful for the life that I live. I need to be more thankful for freedom and live like every day could be my last.

This internship and the things I learned from it matter because it changed my life and motivated me in my career. It is one thing to be passionate about a social problem, but it is another thing to go out into the world and actually interact with the people who have been affected by it. I talk and write a lot about why our justice system is flawed, but I haven’t actively done much about it. This summer, I felt like I was making a real difference in the criminal justice system. Not only did I attend a lot of events interacting with the exonerees, but I also got to be a part of legislative work. We spent time actively writing bills to reform our justice system. This internship was an incredible experience, and I look forward to working with the Innocence Project again.