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The first year of my undergraduate experience was a whirlwind of trying new classes and discovering the path on which I would travel for the next four years. While I took courses with many different focuses, the two most influential classes were a sociology course with a focus on the inequalities that persist in the education system in the United States, and a course on social justice through which I had an opportunity to tutor elementary school students. I learned about the school system through an in depth analysis of overall societal issues and I was then able to watch the effects of the system unfold on the development of young students. These experiences shaped my interest in social issues, and more specifically, spurred my interest in education policy and reform.

Now, as a rising senior at the George Washington University majoring in Sociology and minoring in Human Services and Social Justice, I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to apply all that I have learned over the past few years to my internship at The Center for Education Reform. CER is one of the most experienced leaders in education reform and continues to be an advocate to ensure all students are provided excellent opportunities for their education. CER aims to bridge the gap between policy and education by making sure all schools and teachers have the power to create transformative and substantive reforms in education.

After my first few hours at The Center for Education Reform, I can already see the excitement that backs the work that is done here and I am realizing how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to work alongside and learn from such influential people in the education reform movement. Through this internship, I am excited to gain insight into important issues such as the charter school movement and aid in raising an awareness of the importance of education reform in the nation. As I begin to explore the potential of my position in the education reform movement, I hope that this internship will lead me on that same path that I originally discovered in the first year of my undergraduate experience.

Mandy Leiter, CER Intern