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I am almost two and a half hours into my internship here at CER. I didn’t really think that I would ever return to the DC-metropolitan area after my high school graduation, but here I am. The metro ride was long, but the weather was lovely. I am so excited to be back, and even more so, working within the network of key education policy reformers! It has been a journey looking for an appropriate internship with a public policy focus that suited my interests, but I am looking forward to a productive summer here at CER.

I did not think that my career trajectory would point anywhere near education policy until recently. I am a product of alternative education and academic enrichment programs, and with this background I have been exposed to different pedagogical philosophies; my vision for the widespread recognition of fundamental human rights has led me to an interest in human rights education and education policy.

I am majoring in Anthropology and Human Rights Studies. I intend to focus my future efforts on teacher and curriculum evaluation, but I definitely want to gain exposure to the topic of school choice. I am excited to see how my experience with CER will supplement my coursework, and how the information that I will gather in the these coming eight weeks will help to shape my view of educational institutions.

I look forward to involve the concepts and perspectives on U.S. education policy that I have learned here not only in my future coursework, but specifically in what will (hopefully) be my senior thesis: a comparative analysis of education policy and initiatives in rural versus urban areas in Madagascar (where I will be studying during Spring 2015).

My day has been encouraging insofar that I was pleased to hear what current projects the other staff members are working on during our staff meeting. It will be exciting to get to work with everyone and see how different departments within a nonprofit work to pursue practical education reform. By the summer’s end, I hope to have fully immersed myself in the topics regarding education reform, and to have been exposed to various perspectives within different arguments concerning education policy. I am super excited to see what this summer will bring!

Adiya Taylor, CER Intern