By Nancy Lopez

Before we sit down for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pie, we’d like to express our thanks to our fall intern, Sierra Blanchard-Hodge, for the many ways in which she has helped to support our mission. Thank you, Sierra!

We asked Sierra to share a little bit about herself and her experience this semester:

Hi! My name is Sierra Blanchard-Hodge and I am interning this fall at Washington Council of Lawyers. I’m really excited to be working with such a wonderful organization that does so many great things in the DC area!

I was born and raised in Denver, CO, and am a third year undergraduate student at Xavier University of Louisiana, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Business Administration. I enjoy being active, trying new things, and living new experiences! I traveled over 1,000 miles from home to attend college, and now I am almost 1,000 miles away from my university just to experience something new and expand my horizons.

While at Xavier, I like to stay busy on campus. I am a part of Alpha Lambda Delta and Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Societies, served as the Sophomore Class President for the 2014–2015 school year, and was a cheerleader for my first two years of undergrad and now serve as the Student Coach for the team.

One of my passions is serving impoverished populations and our veterans. I am interested in both legal service and politics and plan to attend law school once I graduate from college. The time that I’ve spent so far in Washington, DC, has made me feel like any dream can come true.

Working with Washington Council of Lawyers has been a gratifying experience. I love the people that I’m working with and the network that this organization provides. And it reminds me that there are many great people in the world who want to make a difference, and that change is possible!

We’ll miss working with Sierra, but we look forward to catching up with her on Twitter at @sblanchardhodge.