Adeline Sandridge is a rising senior a the University of Virginia, where she serves as Chairwoman for her chapter of NeW. Read about Adeline’s exciting summer internship below. 

This summer I am interning in Washington DC at the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM). Alzheimer’s runs in my family, with both my great-grandmother, her brother, and my great aunt passing from the disease in the past several years. As their battle with the disease raged on, I realized the tragic nature of the disease and many Americans’ ambivalent or lackadaisical attitudes toward the disease itself. Many people fail to understand that anyone with a brain is susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease, though young people of my generation, especially, write it off as one that won’t affect them, or that they at least have a couple of decades to live normally before their chances of developing the disease triple with age.

The Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) is the public policy and advocacy arm of the Alzheimer’s Association, whose mission is to advance support and research for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. My primary duties include assisting office staff with memos, graphics, and publications, completing research of Alzheimer’s populations/demographics in different states, meeting with members of Congress and their staffs to advance AIM’s legislative agenda, and working closely with staff to put on the annual Advocacy Forum in June.

My favorite part of my job is knowing that I am making a difference, no matter the size of the task. Public policy is becoming increasingly more important for non-profit organizations across the country, and I’m excited that I am able to play a direct role in the critical work the Alzheimer’s Association does to draw even closer to a world without Alzheimer’s disease.