Student and Alumni Profiles

Professional Experience Prior to Law School:

After graduating, I taught middle and high school math and lived abroad learning French. I spent a semester volunteering at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy before taking a job conducting research at the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict.

What I Am Hoping to Do with My Law Degree:

I hope to enter academia.

Professor Who Influenced Me Most:

Professor Baker must inspire new students every year to think more carefully about the arguments they try to advance. His thoughtfulness, creativity, and kindness are qualities I can only hope to emulate.

My Favorite Course:

Professor Claire Finkelstein teaches an outstanding version of Topics in Philosophy of Law.  She tailors the course’s syllabus to the class’s interests while at the same time animating recurring legal debates. The course offers a highly encouraging and extremely supportive environment for students with a broad range of interests.

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

I am pursuing a PhD in the Political Science Department alongside the JD in the Law School. The Law School makes these types of ad hoc joint degree programs easy to pursue and professors have been highly encouraging of the endeavor.

Meaningful Cross-disciplinary Experience at Penn:

Under the University’s umbrella, a number of cross-disciplinary programs exist that are highly relevant to lawyers, including the Penn Program in Ethnic Conflict (PPEC) and the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism (DCC). They provide fantastic opportunities for aspiring lawyers to pursue political and intellectual interests both domestically and abroad. I had the opportunity this past year of participating in PPEC’s Sawyer Seminar on Power-Sharing in Deeply Divided Places, engaging scholars on how to construct political solutions to ethnic conflict.

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

Getting through the first year curriculum is not easy and, at least from my experience, I learned just as much from my fellow students as I did from professors. A collegial environment can only make this more beneficial.

My Favorite Philadelphia Moment:

Philadelphia is remarkable for its tendency to celebrate in the streets. Whether it is a World Series victory or the Fourth of July, Philly has a habit of converging on Broad Street or the Ben Franklin Parkway in ways that you do not usually see in other cities. It definitely gives the city a nice feel.

My Extracurricular Activities at Penn Law:

I worked with the American Civil Liberties Union as well as the International Human Rights Advocates developing a post-conflict educational curriculum in Uganda.

What I Did For Public Service:

I am currently working with the Staff Attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union.

My Favorite Place or Activity on the University Campus:

Nothing beats grabbing a coffee and heading to the Fischer Fine Arts Library on a cold and sunny morning.

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