Meet the Intern: Michaela Reger
Please welcome our new legal intern, Michaela Reger!
What is your educational background?
From 2014 to 2018 I attended Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and received a BA in English: Creative Writing. After graduation I moved to Concord, New Hampshire, to attend UNH Law School with a focus in public interest law. I’ve just completed my first year.
How did you first learn about humanism?
I didn’t know much about humanism until I began my internship search during my second semester of law school. After I explored the American Humanist Association website, I was surprised that I hadn’t really heard of the organization before, because it encompasses a lot of values that are important to me.
Did you grow up in a traditional religious faith? If so, how did it impact you?
Despite growing up in one of the more religious states in the country, I did not live in a traditionally religious household. My family briefly attended a Christian church when I was eleven years old, and the youth Bible classes I attended were the extent of my time there. I’m not overly familiar with any other religion, but I’ve always believed that everyone has a right to practice, or not practice, what they choose, so long as it isn’t harming others.
What interested you most about interning for the AHA?
My career goal is to focus on matters of policy and public interest, especially those concerning equal protection and equity of all races, religions, sexual orientations, and genders/gender identifications. I wanted to spend my summer at an organization that not only shares that goal, but actively fights for it.
What book has influenced you the most?
I would love to say that it’s a book by some famous classical author or an influential non-fiction title, but in reality it’s the Harry Potter series. They inspired my love for reading as a child and are ultimately why I wound up as an English major. The series definitely instilled a lot of the beliefs I now hold, and I find myself re-reading all seven books almost every year.
If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be and why?
- Alexander the Great: He has been heavily inspirational in my own writing so I think it would be incredibly interesting to sit down and speak with him.
- Agnodice of Athens: She dressed as a man in order to treat patients in Ancient Greece and is the reason the ban on women practicing medicine in Athens was overturned. It would be fascinating to hear her tell this historic story from her own point of view.
- George R.R. Martin: I’m a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, the book series Game of Thrones is based on, and I really want to know how they end (especially after the underwhelming HBO season 8).