When I arrived at the Legal Aid Society of Louisville this summer, the organization had no Instagram presence. By the time I left, it had a business profile, a one-year content calendar, and five content pillars designed to reach the low-income Kentuckians the organization serves: Word of the Week, Know Your Rights, Myth vs. Fact, Real Stories, and Community and Events. Along the way, I produced volunteer-recruitment flyers for the Eviction Defense and Economic Stability programs, redesigned a pro bono training deck for our attorneys, built a tool to track social media performance, and edited a video introducing this year’s intern class.
The work I expected to do was creative. What I didn’t expect was how much law I would absorb in the process. To write a single “Know Your Rights” post, I had to understand eviction
procedures well enough to make it accurate and plain. That pulled me toward the legal side of the building. I shadowed civil attorneys at LAS and sat in on criminal proceedings at the County Attorney’s Office. The contrast between the two taught me more about how the justice system treats people than any classroom ever has.
The biggest thing I learned about myself is that communication is not separate from advocacy; it is advocacy. Making the law legible to someone who is scared and out of options is its own form of legal work. As a pre-law student aiming for education and policy, that lesson reshaped how I think about the career I want.
“It was a joy to work with Colby this summer. He brought a lot of energy and fresh ideas to the role. We were attempting to do something new with the Wabash fellow and engaged them in more communications work. Colby helped us chart that path. He created social media and video content and developed a long-term social media strategy that continues long after his internship has concluded. One of my favorite parts of being a host organization for a Wabash student is seeing where they go after they graduate. I fully expect to see Colby as a successful, compassionate, and passionate
attorney,” said Julia Leist.
I am grateful to my supervisors, Julia and Becca, for trusting a summer intern with real ownership, and to everyone at LAS who let me learn alongside them. Most of all, thank you to
the Wabash donors whose generosity funded this internship. You did not just pay for a summer; you gave me a clearer picture of the lawyer I aspire to become.
