Pictured L-R, Elle Michel, Aylin Mestizo, Oliver Wang
From Steuben County,
BATH – Three Cornell University interns positioned with the Steuben County Public Defender’s Office are getting a closer look at lives far removed from the lives they’ve known, as.
Their scholastic aims are different, too:
* Aylin Mestizo, 19, from the Bronx, with a concentration in American Studies and Economics.
* Elle Michel, 21, from Brooklyn, majoring in Industrial and Labor Relations.
* Oliver Wang, 25, from Syracuse, graduated from New York University with a BS in Applied Psychology and a double major in Politics. He aims for a Juris Doctor in 2025.
All three are toying with the idea of pursuing a legal career and were selected to participate in the three-year old Cornell University program. In Steuben, the internship is designed to introduce students to what it’s like to be a defendant in court with few resources, little money and an underprivileged background.
“We take aspiring law students,” said county Chief Public Defender Shawn Sauro. “And give them a look at what it’s like from our ‘side.’”
The experience is an eye opener, the interns said.
Talking to people in a holding center was an introduction to a world they didn’t know existed. Well aware of issues and needs in their home community cultures, all three agreed they were struck by the diversity of the public defense clients in Steuben.
And the county Public Defender’s Office was not the chaotic cut-throat, self-absorbed and fast track to wealth in many law offices, they said.
For one thing, the lawyers there break the tension inherent in public defense with jokes. And pranks. But there’s more:
“Everyone here is so authentic, honest,” Mestizo said. “But they’re hard-working, knowledgeable and confident.”
The students spend hours researching cases, laws and building a defense for those who may have little hope.
Michel said it is unlikely she will pursue a legal career in a court.
But the time in Steuben adds an important depth to whatever career she chooses, she said.
Looking at her sophomore year in the fall, Mestizo said it was too early to know what she will do after graduation.
The Steuben experience will be an element in her direction, she said.
“This has been amazing,” she said.
For Wang, despite a determined focus on law, it is unlikely he’ll find himself in a criminal courtroom.
As a first-generation immigrant, he has experienced deprivation and struggle, and the benefits of community ties. He intends to become active in educational law, and work to reform what he believes are systemic flaws.
“I strongly believe that overall, people want to do good and will do so if the path is cleared for them,” he said. “I want to help clear that path.”
