Alum Spotlight: Jacky Chow and Jacinda Rivas
Meet two debate alums completing a summer internship at Third Coast Underwriters
Jacky Chow and Jacinda Rivas, currently interning at Third Coast Underwriters
Each year, Third Coast Underwriters opens up its summer internship program to candidates with a debate background. Marguerite Dixen, President of Third Coast Underwriters, is a former debater and CDC Board Member. Marguerite understands that debaters come to the job with skills crucial for success, like researching and critical thinking. Alums of our program who participate in the internship refine their skills for future opportunities.
Jacinda Rivas, an alum of Whitney Young debate and current pre-law student at University of Kentucky, says that her experience this summer at Third Coast will “give me a chance to apply the skills I learned in debate to real-life tasks in the professional world.”
An internship at an insurance company may seem like a surprising choice for someone who wants to become a judge one day, but Jacinda sees her work with the company’s database as a place she can combine her background in debate with her future plans. “Not only am I able to use my debate skills to sift through tons of information for the right pieces, I’m also building research skills and relationships with executives that will be really beneficial to what I want to do in the future.”
King College Prep debate alum, Jacky Chow, echoes a similar sentiment. As an undergrad majoring in statistics, he sees a direct connection between the networking he’s doing and the experience with data and Excel he is gaining, and the ability to find a job after college. “When I go out into the workforce, I will already know people there who can help me find other opportunities.”
Jacinda sees this internship experience as part of the broader path debate has opened up for her. “The Chicago Debate League is so important because it gives people access to information they wouldn’t normally have, and it offers lots of students opportunities they wouldn’t normally have access to…it really does improve people’s lives.”
We are grateful for partners like Third Coast Underwriters that understand how valuable debaters can be in the workforce.
