August, 2007

On February 1st, 2007, I briskly walked out of my high school, with a diploma in my hand and a smile on my face. The feeling of relief was both pleasant and overwhelming. I managed to finish my secondary education six months early, and left myself with an abundance of free time on my hands. I stumbled upon AtMP's page on VolunteerMatch, and have interned here ever since.

I spend two days each week in the AtMP office in Brooklyn. Ms. Grist types away on the desktop, while I work alongside her on the rickety laptop, sipping exotic tea. She never fails to provide me with both the independence and guidance I need to complete each task successfully. Due to her help, and my budding confidence, I can now walk down the street wearing my AtMP t-shirt with pride.

Interning for AtMP is a truly interesting experience. I have been given the opportunity to discover how non-profits are run. Over the course of these past few months, I have helped maintain the database, manage the online store, edit the homepage, log donations, conduct research for new projects, make important calls, and more. After completing each task, I develop a greater interest in and understanding of AtMP: its mission, accomplishments and future projects.

My most recent major project involves researching marriage programs funded by the federal government. This money was extracted from anti-poverty programs. Marriage is unfortunately seen as a solution to our nation's poverty. Suggesting marriage as the proper way to conduct one's life just dismisses individuals' decisions about how to seek comfort in another.

The vast number of unmarried people all over the world proves the need for such an organization as AtMP to exist today. We keep a close eye on topics such as health care, employment, housing, and law, and how each topic affects unmarried people.

I am both proud of and loyal to AtMP for its unique quality: our members and staff acknowledge, respect and help represent today's multitude of families. We advocate acceptance of diversity. The inequalities existing between married and unmarried people justify our mission to fight for social change.