麻豆传媒鈥檚 Charles Kligman Central High School Alumni Endowed Scholarship has done more than provide a foothold for undergraduate student Nicholas O鈥機onnor. Its cascading effect allowed him to continue studying full time toward two bachelor鈥檚 degrees, enabled him to accept a life-changing unpaid internship, and put O鈥機onnor on a career path.
鈥淚 received the scholarship during my sophomore year, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It really helped immensely,鈥 said O鈥機onnor, a student in the School of International Service (SIS). He is on track to graduate in 2022 with degrees in international affairs and philosophy. 聽
Nicholas O鈥機onnor, SIS聽'22
The donor-funded scholarship, based on merit and need, gave O鈥機onnor and his family flexibility and enabled him to accept an unpaid summer internship with the Korey Wise Innocence Project at the University of Colorado Law School. O鈥機onnor, whose family lives in Colorado, worked on cases involving people believed to be wrongly convicted of crimes.
鈥淪ome people go into college with a clear idea of what they want to do, but I wasn鈥檛 sure. I was interested in law, maybe environmental law. Being on the Innocence Project confirmed for me that I want to go to law school after I graduate and that I want to work on wrongly convicted and exoneration cases,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 discovered my passion.鈥
O鈥機onnor is in Colorado again this summer, deepening his job experience as an intern for the Conviction Integrity Unit of the Jefferson County District Attorney鈥檚 Office.
O鈥機onnor chose AU because of its high-profile international studies program and its location in the nation鈥檚 capital. 鈥淒C is a hot spot for the subject matter that interested me, and the size of the school was appealing. I also liked the flexibility of the program at SIS,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a rigorous program but I liked the idea that I could build my own path.鈥
He described SIS as offering 鈥渆ndless and far reaching鈥 opportunities.
鈥淔or example, the research program allowed me to take a year to write a paper on judicial systems in authoritarian regimes that ended up being published in the Southern California International Review,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think the paper contributed to me getting the internships. It was brought up at all my interviews.鈥
Scholarships are a key element of the Change Can鈥檛 Wait campaign鈥攁nd O鈥機onnor said his has had a multiplier effect. 鈥淣ot only could I continue studying and do an unpaid internship, but it helped me avoid student debt,鈥 he said. 聽鈥淚 am extremely thankful for this opportunity.鈥
