The clang of the metal detector became her unofficial soundtrack—her coat in one hand, folders in the other—as senior Aanya Chand shuffled through airport-style security checks for the fourth time of the week.
Commands rung in her ears as she passed the sensors:
“Shoes off.”
“Belt off.”
“All electronics on the tray.”
Minutes later, she would be crammed in a lift with people who argued the law and those who lived at the center of it. The silver doors slid apart, and Chand beheld the courtroom lobby.
“I knew I wanted to be a lawyer,” Chand said. “I’ve just always been interested in law and I did a summer course at Columbia [University] my sophomore year. So this year I wanted to get an internship, and see it in action rather than just learn about it in a class and so I emailed a bunch of law firms in the area for the internship.”
Chand’s persistence paid off when she secured an internship at the Val Zuniga Law firm where she shadowed a criminal lawyer. She received a company email address and a weekly schedule that steered the rest of her summer.
“Every day I basically drove down to the Harris County Criminal Center,” Chand said. “It’s right next to the University of Houston downtown. And I would go through the scanners, it’s like the TSA at the airport. You take off your shoes, you take off all your jewelry and everything. Even if you tell them you’re interning, every day you go through the metal detector when you go to the criminal center.”
Walking through security checks became a routine, but once in the courtroom, she often stood out. The reason being that she was a high school intern in a law firm, something that was unheard of by many of the judges and lawyers she met.
“Any interns the courts had were usually college students,” Chand said. “So whenever I said I was a high schooler, they were really shocked. And they were really impressed. [For] most of them, if I’d been in their court once, they remembered me.”
Apart from the unusual appearance of a high school student in a court room, multiple other aspects about Chand’s personality made her a good fit for the courtroom.
“She’s always been very good at arguing and she’s always very analytical,” senior Jessica Lee said. “She’s very good at arguing and she’s very good at speaking. She speaks very well and she can also write very well, so it helps her get her point across, I feel, in class discussions and just in conversations as well.”
From scheduling to high-profile criminal cases, Chand’s internship exposed her to the inner workings of the court. Some mornings were set in stone—setting dates with court coordinators, organizing files and scheduling the entire day for the attorney she was shadowing. Other days were anything but predictable.
“I learned legal writing,” Chand said. “Then I organized files. It was kind of like a glorified secretary position, but I also shadowed him. I got to meet judges. He took me behind the courtrooms to see everything. I was able to pass the bar, which usually means passing the bar exam. It’s also like you pass a bar that’s in the courtroom. So I was able to walk behind all of that.”
Among her many court visits and daily TSA-style security checks, one particular moment stood out: helping a man who needed an MRI scan but couldn’t visit the hospital because of his ankle monitor.
“That day my lawyer said you can talk to the judge, and tell the judge what’s happening,” Chand said. “I went up to the judge, and I talked to her. She was really nice to me and she said ‘I’ll sign off on this right now’. And I was happy because I got to get that guy off for the scans he needed. I liked helping people.”
While moments like that were rewarding, others revealed just how different real-life law was from Hollywood. Contrary to the movie trials which are “big and showy”, Chand quickly realized that law is not as “glamorous” as it is portrayed.
“There’s always an argument,” Chand said. “But, a lot of the time there’s more of a compromise. I think it’s not very black and white, how [movies] show it. And I thought that was interesting.”
Over time, she began to notice the quiet power judges carried in the courtroom. Seeing their ability and attentiveness, Chand gained a newfound respect for the mallet-bearers.
“I realized the judges just have to be harsh,” Chand said. “They can’t show any bias to anyone in the courtroom. But they’re actually genuine people. And I think they’re also people who have been through what I’ve been through.”
This balance between authority and humanity stood out very clearly in a few of the cases Chand attended during the internship. Many times the outcomes surprised her because of the varying levels of crime a person could commit and how the punishments would differ.
“You know sometimes it was just speeding,” Chand said. “Usually it’s not just guilty or not guilty. But then there’s probationary periods, where you can’t drive your car for a few weeks. That’s what happened to a guy who was speeding. If it’s younger kids, the judges will make them get a job as a requirement for their probation.”
Beyond the courtroom, Chand learned some practical skills she didn’t expect. One instance of this was when she learned how important it is to speak succinctly in the court, something that she feels is useful in daily life as well.
“In court you say what you want to get the point across, you don’t really put a lot of fluff on it,” Chand said. “In law you have to be very straight to the point, and you also have to stop using filler words. When you’re in court there’s a court reporter, and she types out everything you say. So the more filler words you say, the less indulgent you sound.”
While the internship was full of lessons and helped further Chand’s love for law, it also showed her the kind of lawyer she would want to become in the future.
“I honestly feel that I really like criminal law,” Chand said. “I thought it was really fun. But I’d probably do corporate law because of the money. Because a lot of the criminal lawyers just aren’t doing too well. With criminal law you have to be well-known, because otherwise people won’t come to you. And you’re a standalone person rather than a corporation.”
Beyond the promise of a steady salary and job security, another factor that draws Chand to corporate law is the level of impact it can have in people’s lives. According to Peterson Law, corporate law is a critical aspect of running a successful business and includes a multitude of legal matters that concern business formation, governance, compliance, contracts, and transactions.
At the same time, Chand also finds family law interesting and worth exploring, something she may dabble upon down the road.
“I think there are less corporate lawyers, because it’s hard to get in that space because there’s so many people,” Chand said. “You help a company, but you’re [also] helping hundreds of people. All of their jobs are secure because of something you helped with. That’s why I think corporate law is cool.”
Even though she once thought she might pursue English, both this internship and her earlier summer course at Columbia gave her a clearer picture of her future. What started as an email to a law firm became one of the most defining experiences of her high school career.
“I like writing, English, politics, and I find history very entertaining,” Chand said. “ I think the law is a mix of all of that. The internship was very fun, and there was not a single day I never wanted to not go there.”
No matter which path Chand decides to pursue, Lee is confident that she will bring immense value to her future career.
“[Chand] has an unforgettable character and leaves a lasting impression on people,” Lee said. “She really takes pride in a lot of what she does and she can become a leader wherever she is. She can fit into anything and she’s a very intelligent person. I think she’d be a very valuable asset wherever she decides to go.”
