{"id":16974,"date":"2021-07-15T20:03:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T00:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capal.local\/?p=16974"},"modified":"2021-07-16T17:58:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T21:58:55","slug":"capal-intern-spotlight-vishni-samaraweera-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/capal-intern-spotlight-vishni-samaraweera-21\/","title":{"rendered":"CAPAL Intern Spotlight Vishni Samaraweera ’21"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Vishni Samaraweera is a current second-year student at Brandeis University majoring in Health, Science, Society, Policy and minoring in Economics, Legal Studies and South Asian Studies on the pre-law track. This summer, Vishni is interning with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your main responsibilities at your position? What are some of your big projects?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an Intern at the USDA-APHIS-IES, I am interning under the director and deputy director of the Investigative Enforcement Services Agency of APHIS. In my position, I will work with the different branch chiefs in IES (Plant Protection, Animal Welfare, and Animal Health and Protection) to conduct projects and assist with administrative tasks and cases. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How does this internship<\/span>\/scholarship fit with your professional and career goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By interning at the USDA-APHIS-IES, I am really able to see the investigative and enforcement practices and protocols at a government level. These practices and cases have a legal background and demonstrate a unique set of pathways that come with a law degree. As someone hoping to pursue a J.D., it is very interesting to work with the different branch chiefs and understand how they carry out cases and lead investigative team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What do you hope to achieve this summer as a part of CAPAL\u2019s 2021 cohort?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hope to develop strong bonds and connections with peers in my cohort as well as with different mentors from CAPAL. I am learning so much about how to professionally present myself with confidence and not be apologetic about my culture and background in the workforce, and I look forward to taking these skills forward into my career and life. It is so empowering to be in a space with such intelligent AANHPI students to discuss our experiences and struggles and how to move forward and take action together. I am grateful to be a part of this space, and I am so excited for the rest of the summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does public service mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To me, public service is serving all communities and the individuals within them equitably. Public service work, no matter the field, should be non-discriminatory work that aims to treat all within the community equitably. Through public service work, communities are provided with specific resources and support systems that they need to succeed. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Did you pick up any new hobbies during\u00a0quarantine, and if so, what are they?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cooking and learning all of my families\u2019 recipes. In addition, I have been doing a lot of paint by numbers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA Tree Grows in Brooklyn\u201d by Betty Smith<\/span><\/p>\n

If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My dad\u2019s homemade tabouli\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is one country\/place you hope to travel to one day?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Santorini, Greece<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s one interesting\/surprising fact that a lot of people may not know about you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have performed with the Boston Ballet in their productions of the Nutcracker and Coppelia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Meet all of our 2021 CAPAL Scholars & Interns here.<\/a><\/h3>\n

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]   Vishni Samaraweera is a current second-year student at Brandeis University majoring in Health, Science, Society, Policy and minoring in Economics, Legal Studies and South Asian Studies on the … Continue reading CAPAL Intern Spotlight Vishni Samaraweera ’21<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16981,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16974\/revisions\/16981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.capal.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}