Editors’ Note: Read about Lulu Sun, a New York associate in the firm’s Transactions Department, in the latest installment of our ongoing Faces of MoFo series.
The most exciting experience I had during college was volunteer teaching. I started by joining one of the largest student organizations at Tsinghua University and assisting with organizing volunteer teaching programs. Our department was mainly collaborating with primary schools for children of migrant workers in Beijing, and right after I was elected as department leader, I started a semester-long program from scratch to provide more opportunities for communication between students and volunteers. After this, I decided to become a volunteer teacher myself in a three-week summer program organized by Peer Experience Exchange Rostrum (PEER), a non-profit organization in Beijing. That experience totally expanded my horizons.
The core curriculum of the PEER program encouraged students to research issues they cared about within their local community and bring changes in a thoughtful way. Through this process, students had a chance to develop their core abilities, including communication, public speaking, teamwork, and critical thinking and analysis. They also had the opportunity to attend different kinds of seminars, which we prepared extensively in advance alongside weeks of other training sessions. I also had a great time working with and making connections with fellow Chinese volunteers who came from different colleges and workplaces across continents. The most important theme throughout this experience was that we were peers, not teachers, of all the students and fellow volunteers, and we could freely exchange ideas and learn from each other. After this summer program, I continued to contribute my time and effort to PEER’s endeavor through various roles, as an intern, mentor, interviewer, and committee member for the summer program.
My enthusiasm for education prompted me to participate in the Child Advocacy Clinic at Harvard. In this clinic, I worked with an attorney at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts and helped advocate for the rights to special education for students with disabilities. I often had a strong sense of accomplishment during this externship since I could see the real impact of my work, and I enjoyed tackling a wide range of legal issues and developing more knowledge about special education law every day.
I was able to continue this journey as I joined MoFo. As a Corporate associate, I am now capable of assisting clients from a brand new perspective. One of the first pro bono projects I took on at MoFo was helping in a review of the corporate governance documents for Urban Assembly, a non-profit organization that supports schools in New York City. Even though I am not directly involved in the education work myself, I am now providing professional service that is valued and important for the long-term development of the organization. I also get the chance to learn about the different goals of the pro bono clients and help them with their social causes. This has been a great experience for me, and I would love to help with more pro bono projects in the future.