Just over two months ago I was selecting various organizations to interview with for my fellowship at Cesar Chavez PCS- Parkside Campus. The list of organizations ranged from the medical field to politics and I had to choose wisely, because this would be my job for the last three weeks of school. Initially, I was drawn towards anything pertaining to the medical field, but several organizations regarding education caught my interest, specifically the Center for Education Reform (CER).
CER grabbed my attention because I was fascinated to learn about an organization whose main goal is to create and implement policies that will enhance the education system for years to come. After selecting my top five organizations, I was notified about which three out of the five organizations I would be interviewing with at the interview fair, which took place on March 28th, 2014.
Walking into the fair I was anxious but excited at the same time. CER was the only interview that was scheduled for me and once I sat down with Tyler Losey, who works for CER as the outreach coordinator, our conversation started to flow. He gave me background information about CER and his job with the organization while I informed him about myself, what interests me about education, and programs that I currently participate in that encourage education.
The interview concluded and I felt confident that the CER fellowship was mine! Two months later, all juniors were placed with a fellowship based off of their personal rankings of the organizations and the organizations rankings of the students. CER was ranked number one on my list and after expressing how interested I was in the organization to my fellowship teacher she placed me with CER. I couldn’t wait to start!
My first day at CER was on June 6th, 2014 and the office was laid out and organized. I waited in the coffee room until the other two interns arrived and once they did, Mr. Losey started our orientation. He gave us a tour of the office, introduced us to the staff, and we also sat in on a weekly staff meeting. CER has a young office, therefore the other interns and I would fit in perfectly. My experience with CER has just begun and I look forward to maintaining a relationship with the organization once it’s over.
Imani Jenkins, CER Intern, a junior at César Chávez Public Charter School for Public Policy, Parkside HS Campus