Volunteers - Shaan Rizvi
Hello! My name is Shaan and I am originally from Ithaca, New York. I graduated from Cornell University in May of 2007 with a double-major in Political Science and Philosophy. As an undergrad, although I was fairly certain I wanted to go law school, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go straight to law school or whether to take a year off. As I began looking into job opportunities, the CCSC application (which innocently began with a simple request for only a resume…) fell into my lap.
For me, the biggest attraction about the CCSC was the opportunity for me to work at Neighborhood Legal Services, where I serve as the Homeless Task Force paralegal. I spend much of my time providing legal advice to clients who are homeless or have homelessness related emergencies, and advocating on their behalf at the Department of Social Services. To do this, I've had to learn substantive areas of welfare law as well as how to work with the system in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for my clients. I've also had the invaluable experience of working directly with many talented and accomplished attorneys in my office.
Outside of my job, the CCSC program has also been appealing to me in its emphasis on the four pillars of social justice, spirituality, community, and simple living. I'm finding constantly challenged and am learning new ways of interacting with people and looking at the world. By the end of the year I'm confident that I will have broadened my horizons considerably. Additionally, the simple living aspect of the program has pleasantly allowed me to try my hand at new things that I'm beginning to enjoy, such as cooking, and is rekindling my interest in old hobbies as well. Of course, I believe that all these changes that I see slowly developing in myself are what the program is all about - the CCSC does not simply accept us for who we are, but pushes us to realize our potential and challenges us to become who we might be.