by Ryan Howes
Natasha Anzik worked as a summer research student at the Asper Centre last year for her 1L summer. Natasha was interested in working in constitutional law because she recognizes that it is the “driver of social change.”
“I am very happy that I decided to work with the Asper Centre,” said Natasha, despite having had other options available to her. “Constitutional law is a niche area of law with a lot of opportunities and very passionate practitioners.”
Natasha worked on a variety of projects over the summer, including research into Supreme Court of Canada intervention opportunities and possible arguments. She collaborated with lawyers from the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers on work that led to the formation of the Asper Centre’s current Refugee and Immigration student working group, which Natasha now co-leads.
“The opportunity to network and meet lawyers doing interesting work was a huge asset in retrospect,” reflected Natasha. “The Asper Centre is outstanding for that and does really interesting work.”
Natasha was even involved in the government consultations on the issue of physician-assisted dying, assisting Cheryl Milne in this capacity, the Asper Centre’s executive director.
“As a woman entering the legal profession, it was a unique and inspiring experience to work with Cheryl Milne.”
Now Natasha is serving in a mentor role, supervising the 1L’s in her Refugee and Immigration student working group. “It’s rewarding reflecting back on 1L, seeing so much progress, and being able to pass on some of the benefits of my experience to the 1Ls I now mentor at the Asper Centre.”
“I would certainly recommend the Asper Centre summer position; there are so many things to get involved with. Students realize in hindsight what a great opportunity it was.”
Ryan Howes is currently a 1L JD Candidate at the Faculty of Law and is the Asper Centre’s work-study student.