DIARY OF AN INTERN: A Legal Intern’s Experience at Amata Green
Journal Entry of September 8th
Law Internship, Summer 2021
My day just began like any other day. Summer is about to finish, and I can feel it, I like it. Being local in a coastal Spanish town can be very frustrating. You witness how your small town sees its population double and even triple itself for two months. I am not saying this is bad, for sure it is good for the economy but, in exchange you sacrifice the tremendous benefits of quietness for your mental health, and even worse, you struggle to find a place to park your car! Coming back to my morning routine, my mother just made coffee and following traditions I just serve myself while my eyes are still fighting to keep themselves open. I really like to take things slowly in the morning and enjoy my coffee talking to my parents about the morning news. Today, unfortunately, we have to hear again how a group of individuals have decided that they had the right to attack a man because he loved another man. Frustrating! These attacks have increased by 30% in Spain in 2021. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do as a society.
Once my coffee is gone, I feel like I am ready to really start my day. This is when I take a shower, check my email inbox, LinkedIn, and the cryptocurrency market. El Salvador, wisely, has become the first country in recognizing Bitcoin as a legal currency. No doubt, it is a good day for the business. Today, however, I added something different to my list of things to do. I took the initiative and decided to go to the supermarket. While I was walking through the dairy area, I was surprised by a woman who used to be my Sciences professor in High School. We have been in touch for a long time now, and we have had a very good friendship after school. When she became aware I was studying law, however, she got a bit disappointed. The only thing she asked me was to make good things, she did not want me to defend the bad guys. Today, the first thing I did when I met her was to tell her about my experience in Amata Green during my legal internship this summer.
I may have skipped this part, but this woman has always been very respectful with the environment and has promoted sustainable practices among students even at very early stages. I do remember how some students did not take her seriously at all. Nevertheless, she never gave up and continued promoting her values. This is what we really need nowadays. Therefore, I explained to her my internship experience very excitedly because I knew she would love it. While I was selling how great and revolutionary Biochar was for agriculture, how Biochar could reduce the water consumption for irrigation or how the production of Biochar meant less CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, I realized how helpful and extraordinary my internship has been. She also raised a question: Had I become a good salesman, or I have become a believer of Biochar’s potential? I would say there is a little bit of both here.
I do still remember when I applied for this role, I had no idea about Biochar and its uses. Soon, I began my research to attend my interview with Ms. Sandi Martin, CEO and Founder of Amata Green. I had serious doubts, about my capacity to develop my role appropriately or simply if this was something I really wanted to work on. In addition, remote internships can typically be difficult as well. Nevertheless, time has proven me wrong. I am very grateful for working along with my colleagues and Ms. Martin at Amata Green. This internship could be, as many others, making copies or just spending the time in front of your computer doing nothing. To be honest, I do not even know why I include my previous legal internship in my CV. I have to confess that was one of those I was just talking about. However, Ms. Martin gave us the most important thing which an intern needs to offer all its potential, I am talking about confidence. Of course, she has taken the lead when necessary and she has provided the instructions and feedback we needed, but always open to hear our ideas, our reasoning, our initiatives, and this was absolutely great.
Sadly, this internship is about to end and for sure I will miss those weekly meetings with my other law intern colleagues. It looks like we have finished our cycle and we are ready to look for new challenges and opportunities. Tomorrow I will wake up, drink my coffee, read the news and reclaim my parking spot. However, my colleagues and I will remember this internship as a starting point, something to be proud of, because we are going to be able to say that we were part of the revolution.
(See more pictures below from Javier’s experiences during his Summer Internship as part of the Amata Green Team.)
To learn more about how Amata Green is using biochar to promote sustainability in the olive groves of southern Spain, see our plans at: https://www.amatagreen.com/transitionplan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from Spain, Mr. Javier Bernal graduated in Law at University of Seville and completed his Master’s degree in International Business Law at St. Mary’s University, in London. Mr. Bernal’s areas of interest include International Arbitration or International Intellectual Property Law. In addition, Mr. Bernal’s final LLM Dissertation explores data-driven solutions to bring gender and demographic balance to arbitral tribunals in International Arbitration.
L-R Javier Bernal, Luise Calle Sanchez, Sandi Martin, Jose Antonio. Meeting with government officials, Jaén Spain.
L_R Luise Calle Sanchez, Javier Bernal, Sandi Martin, Chris Gauthier. Team Lunch.
L-R Javier Bernal, Sandi Martin. Learning about olive oil production.
Getting it Right
Javier Bernal (L) and Sandi Martin (R) discuss sustainability developments related to olive oil production.
Amata Green was given exclusive private tours of several special olive mills in the heart of Olive Oil Country in Andalucia, Spain.
Learning about olive trees
Olive Producers share with the Amata Green Team the intricacies of growing olives.
Much Success in Spain
Amata Green Team meets with Spanish companies to help advance Amata Green’s Biochar Project.