EC alumna Carrington Brooks credits WINGS program for helping clinch U.S. Senate internship

By all accounts, EC alumna Carrington Brooks is doing very well.

Currently in Europe, she is part of American University’s transcontinental study abroad program. Her work has started in Belgium, where she is studying the European Union and specifically how the agency disseminates aid to Africa. It will end in Nairobi, Kenya, working with an organization that distributes EU aid. In addition to this, she has recently been selected to participate in a virtual leadership fellowship with L’Oréal.

The college sophomore, who is a declared CLEG major (Communications, Legal Studies, Economics and Government) at American University in Washington, D.C. also participated in its Cornerstone Program, which allowed her to work as a college freshman in two different internships last year: the U.S. Senate, with Sen. Cory Booker, and Voice of America, where she interviewed musical artists and created three radio features a week that were aired in 20 countries.

“I like to take advantage of opportunities,” she says.

Eastern Christian High School Foundation

Brooks credits her WINGS program experience at ECHS, the school’s work internship program, as a main driver to landing an internship with the U.S. Senate in her freshman year. “I was already building my resume because I had already had internship experience,” she says. “With the senator’s office, they said they don’t normally hire freshmen, but my experience was significant.”

In her final year at EC, Brooks interned at a law firm in Wayne, NJ as part of WINGS. The firm specialized in elder law, and Brooks says, “it made me more passionate about studying law.” Going in four days a week, she helped with paperwork, was mentored by attorneys, and went to court. “That [experience] continued to instill in me that I wanted to advocate for people. I think advocacy is extremely important and I saw that first-hand,” she shares.

Brooks plans to graduate college in three years due to the Seton Hall dual enrollment courses that she took at Eastern Christian. From there, she hopes to move into law school and eventually become a lawyer specializing in corporate law.

In addition to academic support, Brooks shares how grateful she is for EC’s emotional support. “I wouldn’t be able to have gotten where I am today without that consistent support, which enabled me to overcome some challenges in my junior and senior year. I was 100 percent supported, carried through, and loved on, within academics and outside of the classroom as well…There are great opportunities for students at EC to be successful, but it’s about the whole picture. EC has a really great balance.”

Carrington’s EC coursework included:

• WINGS internship in General Practice Law 
• Related Seton Hall dual enrollment classes: American Lit 1 Honors, American Lit 2 Honors, US History 1 Honors, US History 2 Honors