Interning for Mediation: Riley Sloat

Jan 25, 2023 | Mediation, News

I am Riley Sloat, and I am currently a senior at Elizabethtown Senior Highschool. I am interested in having a career as a mediator due to the business and Personal Law class I took in my sophomore year, wherein part of the curriculum was to do a mock mediation.

Although a 20-minute guided activity was nowhere near comparable to the real thing, I discovered that I liked the setting and atmosphere mediation provided compared to any alternative ways to resolve disputes introduced by the class. Mediation seems much more appealing because it focuses on communication between two people and not their avatars. It comes up with a mutual agreement. It hadn’t felt like it solved a singular issue but instead provided the tools to bridge a gap between two more people. I’ve since figured that mediation was something I wanted to pursue.

Due to a lack of genuine insight into what such a profession entails and a need for work experience credit to graduate, I’ve sought out Advoz to work as their intern. Advoz initially struck me as an organization that has demonstrated genuine care for the people it helps, whether it be via its mediation or restorative justice program. In many ways, Advoz embodies the initial reasons why I became interested in mediation. I hope that my time here will help me gain further insight and experience in the fields Advoz works within. I believe that I can only become more interested and passionate in mediation by being here!

Read More from the Advoz Blog

Intern Stories: Meet Kiarelys Ortega-Balbuena

My name is Kiarelys Ortega I am currently attending Millersville University for my bachelor's in Social Work. I originally chose Millersville because of the close proximity to where I live. I help out my parents...

Intern Stories: Meet Stephanie Fabian

I am currently a senior at Millersville University majoring in Social Work and minoring in Spanish. Since I was a middle school student, I knew I wanted to help people and advocate for unheard voices of vulnerable populations. My mom and her siblings are from Puebla,...

Living in the Process: An Intern’s Investment

Living in the Process: An Intern’s Investment

By Sara Crouch, Program Intern Restorative justice is first and foremost a process, rather than an outcome. That’s one of the major lessons that I learned as an intern with Advoz this fall. As someone used to learning new skills quickly, it took me a while to...

Getting to ‘Thank You’

Getting to ‘Thank You’

Rewiring our Apologies…and Our Brainsby Chris Fitz We were getting to end of dialogue. The woman who’d been robbed expressed her grace, that she didn’t hold this against the boy in front of her—or his mom. He was 15, with older friends, saw her get out of her car,...

Advoz Release On Racism And Dialogue

Advoz Release On Racism And Dialogue

The violent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other people of color, are tragic, unnecessary and unjust. In acknowledging that we all play a role consciously or subconsciously in the reality of our current position as a community and a nation, we vow...

Adding Voices, Processing Racism

Adding Voices, Processing Racism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The violent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many other people of color, are tragic, unnecessary and unjust. In acknowledging that we all play a role consciously or subconsciously in the reality of our current...

Chris Wenden Named New Executive Director

Written by the Advoz Board Advoz welcomes a new Executive Director, Chris Wenden, to focus on program expansion and development throughout Lancaster County. “To continue the mission and expand our work and role in the community, the Board of Directors has recruited...

Mission Empathy: Intern Reflections

Mission Empathy: Intern Reflections

By Melisa Betancur A phone call is easy to underestimate. Through my work at Advoz, I learned that a phone call is enough to help build transparency and trust with victims of crimes. The power of empathy flows during these conversations, and I feel the vulnerability...