Summer Intern Spotlight: Sharon Rajadurai

By: Sharon Rajadurai, VA Summer Program Intern

Photos courtesy of Sharon Rajadurai

Hello all! My name is Sharon Rajadurai and I am this summer’s Virginia Program Intern. I am so excited to be living in Virginia this summer and to be fulfilling this role to the best of my ability.

First, a little bit about me- I was raised in Massachusetts with my older brother, Ben and my younger sister, Abigail in a small town called North Attleboro about an hour south of Boston. My family is very important to me and I am grateful to have been raised in such a loving and supporting environment.

After graduating High School last year, I moved to Downtown Boston and have just finished my first year at Suffolk University as a Government major with a concentration in International Relations. Outside of college, I also spent two semesters volunteering as an assistant ESL teacher at a local nonprofit that serves refugees and recent immigrants.

Living in the city has been such a fun experience so far. I enjoy exploring its many nooks and crannies, trying out as many restaurants as I can, and cheering on the absolute best teams in professional sports, although I may be a little biased 😉

Outside of school, I like spending time with my family and friends, staying involved in my faith community, and dabbling a little bit in both drawing and singing. Aside from those things, I have a passion for travel. Last summer, I backpacked through Europe with my cousin on a small budget, spontaneously adventuring through various cities and creating memories that will last a lifetime. I hope to further pursue this passion by studying abroad as much as I can the rest of my college career.

In terms of this internship, I am excited to see what all this role can do for me as I seek to serve a community I am proud to be a part of. This is my first official college internship, and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous about the challenge. I have not worked this closely with youth in this age group before, but I know that I will learn a lot and grow from the experience. As I step into this position, I hope to help empower the youth to be the very best versions of themselves, helping them find their identity and showing them they can be proud of who they are. Youth are powerful. They are the future, but they are very much involved in changing the present and I can’t wait to see how AALEAD youth change my life this summer!