Laura Stateler

“In the first week of my internship, Karen printed me out some business cards with the title of “Administrative Assistant” centered nicely below my name. Although this is a nice and very professional sounding job title, I think my business cards should be reprinted to read, “Princess Laura”. Every morning I begin my day with a nice cup of tea, I eat lunch outside in a garden filled with flowers, and I even get Tuesdays off work. Now, this may sound quite luxurious, but like every Disney princess I faced turmoil. I was locked in a dungeon for 10 weeks. Eighteen years worth of paperwork, a toilet, and I were all that inhabited this dungeon. It may have lacked a fire-breathing dragon, but my time in this dungeon consisted of developing a new filing system for the Advocacy Project. Cinderella had a Fairy Godmother, Rapunzel had her luscious locks to save her, and Princess Laura had filing folders and labels to the rescue. With hard work and a reliance on the Spotify “Confidence Boost” playlist, I am happy to report that I escaped the dungeon…and did it without the help of any Prince. Princess Laura and the rest of the AP “creature faces” went on to live happily ever after. “Reminiscing on my internship at the Advocacy Project, I cannot help but smile. Smile about the people and the work that this organization does. I am so grateful that this was my first office experience because I learned SO much about human right issues and the inner-workings of NGOs.”