" A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. " -Ayn Rand 

All through my life, I've always had a penchant towards discovering myself and polishing the curious side of me. The desire to grab every opportunity and ensuring that those very chances helped me gain priceless exposure; which would in turn motivate me to give my best and go a long way in future with aplomb and focus.

I am a first year student and am studying in the Army Institute of Law holding a keen interest in international relations. Like every other law student I for my internship applied to the Superior Court of Rhode Island and considering my resume and the work I'd done in my school life my name got recommended for the internship in the very first instance. Luckily my application for a membership to the American Bar Association got approved and hence I got to attend their Fall Meeting held in Miami in 2012.

 My trip to the United States of America was one such opportunity, that along with broadening my horizon it exposed me to the International law scene and Superior Court of US. I grasped the golden opportunity and was indeed delighted to be a part of a conference of the American Bar Association held in Miami. I had the indelible experience of interning under Judge Procaccini in the Superior Court of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

 The International Law Conference of ABA was a total lawyers hub wherein I got a chance to meet, be introduced to and interact with attorneys and lawyers from all over the globe. Legal Jurists ranging from countries like Argentina, France, Korea, Australia, and many others.  

ALL had gathered at one venue for establishing global relations worldwide. There were professors from Colleges like Harvard Law School, Georgetown University and University of Miami who conducted seminars for the members of Young Lawyers Forum of ABA. The presence of such eminent personalities boosted my knowledge about basic issues pertaining to law in the current scenario.

Through this, I was exposed to a platform wherein I could establish links with world famous lawyers some of whom are Doug Jones, one of the world's leading dispute resolution lawyer, Nancy Matos from Baker and Mckenzie in Amsterdam, Alexandre Bittencourt Calmon heading Vierano Advogados in Rio De Janeiro and so on and so forth. On three days out of the four days of the Conference there was a 'luncheon' organised for all the participants of the conference, wherein there was a keynote speaker invited everyday. The second day of the conference the luncheon was graced with the presence of Francisco J. Sánchez who is presently serving as the Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The third day of the conference Justice Ellen Gracie Northfleet was amongst us who is the former President of the Supreme Court of Brazil, and finally on the last day there was a luncheon with  Patricia O’ Brien who is currently serving as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel. The exciting part about these luncheons was that apart from being introduced to the speakers; one could easily go and speak to the keynote speakers without any hesitation and inhibition.

The Conference definitely opened my eyes to a a whole new perspective towards International Law and it was undoubtedly an inexplicable experience. 

With regard to my internship, where I was attached to Judge Daniel Procaccini. He in his early days as a lawyer clerked in Superior Court, after which he became a practicing lawyer and was a founding partner of McGovern, Noel and Benik in 1989. He has been a Superior Court judge since 2001, became a Roger Williams University School of Law adjunct professor in 2007; and also is the Vice president of the state Trial Judges’ Association.

Under his esteemed guidance, I was blessed with a golden chance to witness numerous trials both civil and criminal. This in all sense introduced me to the concept of 'Jury Trials'. My basic work as an intern was to witness the entire trial, and textually record it, then summarize and conclude the entire case, irrespective of what the jury opined. I then had to share my analysis and the basis/reasons of my analysis with with Judge Procaccini. I was also attached with the Clerks Office; wherein I was given work related to filing and helping in the Jury Selection Procedure.  

I witnessed The Criminal Trial adjudged by Judge Lansphere, which revolved around the trafficking of drugs worth 7,000 dollars, and the Civil Trial that I attended was under Judge Procaccini. I was also exposed to the the concepts like 'Probation' , 'No Law Contend ere' and various others. During my free hours, I made it a point to interact with the Judge Procaccini and Lansphere's Sheriff's both of whom being Mike and Anthony. They not only took good care of their 'little intelligent intern from India' but were always interested in enriching their knowledge about India and it’s diverse culture.

Judge Procaccini's Clerk Cindy made it a point to ask me as many questions as she could about 'how India is?, how it's culture is? What are the marriage traditions?' and etc.

Judge Procaccini ensured that I learnt as much as I could and all the conversations I had with him seemed to have taught a lot to me. He would always emphasize on the fact that a lawyer should be an amalgamation of a social worker, a psychologist, a friend and a source of law.

The thing that overwhelmed and inveigled me the most about the internship was the 'work culture' which was not only extremely comfortable and motivating, but also the smiles that floated around the office reflected how they enjoyed their work, and I can say that all the while I was there I felt as if I was a part of a big family which wanted me to grow and prosper in every way possible.

 “Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”

― Lou Holtz