STUDENT AND ALUMNI PROFILES

Professional Experience Prior to Law School:

Prior to coming to Penn Law, I worked in Penn Alumni Relations as an Assistant Director on the Alumni Council on Admissions. In this capacity, I worked with children and grandchildren of Penn alumni who were applying for admission to one of Penn's undergraduate schools. I interviewed these students and helped them and their families to navigate the selective admissions process. I also worked for the Franklin Institute Science Museum on a part-time basis as a freelance writer. As a researcher and writer, I researched Franklin Institute award laureates and integrated primary documents from Franklin Institute archives with biographical information to create educational web pages for the Franklin Institute Online.

What I Am Hoping to Do With My Law Degree:

Prior to coming to Penn Law, I worked in Penn Alumni Relations as an Assistant Director on the Alumni Council on Admissions. In this capacity, I worked with children and grandchildren of Penn alumni who were applying for admission to one of Penn's undergraduate schools. I interviewed these students and helped them and their families to navigate the selective admissions process. Building relationships with families and walking them through this process was my favorite part of my job, and it is important to me that my future legal career allow me to build similar relationships with clients. At this point, I am most interested in Trusts and Estates, as it is my understanding that this area of law would allow me to build relationships with families and to help them through the estate planning process. I am applying to Philadelphia firms for the summer, in hopes of gaining exposure to Trusts and Estates and other fields for which I might be a good match.

My Best Experience at Penn Law:

My best experience at Penn Law was the welcome dinner I attended with all the members of my Class of 2010, which marked the official start of our Orientation. It took place at the National Constitution Center, quite a fitting locale for a gathering of future lawyers! It was a lovely evening throughout which I could feel a palpable excitement for our coming years together and the experiences and friendships they promised.

Professor Who Influenced Me Most:

In the context of an Academic Support lecture, Professor Anne Kringel explained to us that, when we work with clients, we will be transforming their personal stories into legal stories. I thought this was an insightful way to describe client interaction, and when I approach clinics, summer associateships and eventually my career, I will make a conscious effort to listen carefully to clients, and then to explain to them exactly how their personal story will become a legal one. Clients are usually emotionally invested in their legal claims, and it is important that they feel validated and understand why and how we as lawyers evaluate their very personal stories from an objective legal standpoint.

My Favorite Course:

Civil Procedure is my favorite course. It is very challenging, which makes it all the more fulfilling when I feel I've grasped a concept. Moreover, it is very practical, and as I do readings and listen in class it is exhilarating to think that I will one day have clients of my own on whose behalf I will be applying the rules and concepts I learn in this class.

An Example of How the Law School's Cross-disciplinary Approach Influences My Legal Education

At the official start to our Orientation, Dean Michael Fitts rightly remarked on the capacity of the law to intersect with a multitude of other professions and areas of study and interest. People often say that you can do anything with a legal degree, and this is because the law touches so many corners of our lives. I appreciate this more and more each day, as the things I learn in class prompt me to consider the world in a new way. I admittedly have started seeing liability everywhere, but I have also developed a deep appreciation for how the law attempts to encourage us to live together in a just and equitable manner. It may not always do a perfect job of this, but it is continuously striving to improve and to evolve to meet the needs of an ever-changing society.

Meaningful Cross-disciplinary Experience at Penn:

Before classes even started, current Penn Law students arranged happy hours in several cities so that incoming students could meet other incoming students from our geographic areas. Coming from Philadelphia, I met another student at one of these happy hours who had already spent a year at Penn in the context of a PhD program, and through him became part of an interdisciplinary dinner group. This informal dinner group meets every week, and has given me the opportunity to meet graduate students from across the University and to learn about the interesting work they are doing. Activities like this give me an appreciation for the breadth of scholarship taking place at Penn, and make me proud to be part of a University whose students are pursuing so many distinct, and yet related, courses of study.

Penn Law is known for its collegial environment. Why is collegiality important to a legal education? How has it affected your legal education?

Collegiality has affected my legal education by providing a supportive environment which keeps me feeling positive even on the most difficult days on my 1L year. I am fortunate to have a 2L with whom I attended college and worked prior to coming to Penn Law who has been looking out for me since I was accepted. She brought me all of her casebooks and supplements from her 1L year, regularly calls and emails to check in on me, and even gave me a Starbucks card so I could get myself a treat after completing a challenging week at school! My genuine admiration, respect and liking for my 1L classmates makes me look forward to coming to school every day, and makes me comfortable even when I am being subjected to the Socratic method!

My Favorite Philadelphia Moment:

I live in Center City, and my favorite Philadelphia moments occur when I am walking home as the sun is setting and I watch the lights of the skyline come into focus. As I near my apartment, I pass musicians playing on opportune street corners, hear the clock striking atop City Hall and watch the dance students at the University of the Arts warming up in their window-lined dance studio. The arts and culture and the rhythm of the city are what most appeal to me about Philadelphia...right after the restaurants and dining opportunities, that is!

What I'm Most Proud Of:

I am proud to be a law student. My decision to apply to law school was one of the most important ones I will ever make, and I am delighted to be a young member of the legal profession. The attorneys I know are articulate, intelligent individuals who have seemingly endless knowledge of the law, of current events and of any other topic you might throw their way. This is the kind of person and the kind of attorney I want to be, and I am proud that I will someday have the privilege of working with clients and helping them to solve their legal problems. I am motivated to keep studying because I want to be the kind of attorney whose apparent knowledge and firm grasp on the law inspires confidence and trust in her clients.

My Extracurricular Activities at Penn Law:

While an undergrad at Penn I gave campus tours, and while a Penn employee I worked closely with prospective students. I truly enjoy sharing my enthusiasm for Penn and assisting prospective students as they visit schools and prepare applications, and I am active as a tour guide for Penn Law and a member of the Post-Acceptance Committee. In these capacities I escort visiting students to classes, give tours of the Law School, and help to plan and execute events aimed at welcoming our admitted students and encouraging them to pick Penn Law!

What I Did For Public Interest:

Starting in my second semester, I will be volunteering for a Low Income Tax Clinic. I will receive training in Center City, and then will assist members of the community in completing their taxes and in taking necessary steps to get tax breaks for which they are eligible. Given my own legal interests, this experience should prove both rewarding and practical.

My Favorite Place or Activity on the University Campus:

My favorite place on Penn's campus is the Fine Arts library. Featured in the movie Philadelphia, this beautiful library is both a quiet study space and a magnificent architectural feat. I love its open reading room, winding stair cases and stained glass windows. A close runner up is the Shakespeare Library located on the 6th floor of Van Pelt. The shelves of this library are lined with works of Shakespeare and related theory, and its mahogany tables are topped with busts of Shakespeare. A model of the Globe Theater and delicate stained glass windows add character to this studious space.

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