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Taking part in settlement discussions to right the wrongs of workplace discrimination. Assisting a judge presiding over federal cases. Working for a battered women's shelter in the Smoky Mountains. Joining the Human Rights Campaign to gain civil rights for gays and lesbians. These are things I've done in search of an education that goes beyond college walls. And once I have my degree, I'll be a better lawyer because of them.
Looking back, there was never any sort of epiphany where I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer. It just evolved in a natural way. As an undergraduate at Guilford, I started as a psychology major, but then I got hooked on sociology and switched. Since I wanted to do something practical and work with people, I started thinking about law.
I knew attorneys who worked in massive firms on corporate cases that never saw the light of day. I didn't want to do that. But then I discovered a more hands-on option. My internship with a civil rights law firm in Washington, D.C., has shown me that there is a kind of law that fits perfectly with my interests in race, class and gender issues.
 Join the club, or the radio staff, or the student government — you never know where it could take you: At Guilford, there are more than 40 student-run clubs and organizations on campus where you can learn to lead, as Kier Bickerstaffe did when he was editor of The Guilfordian. Whether you're interested in arts, sports or the 4th ranked campus radio station in the country (Princeton Review), you'll find a place where your energy and enthusiasm are welcomed. |
I actually picked Northeastern because it reminded me of Guilford. First-year students take the usual courses, but the second and third years are split between the classroom and a full-time law job. This co-op program is a lot like Guilford's concept of service learning. By the end, you've had an incredible, practical working experience and you're that much more valuable to a law firm.
But just as importantly, you've done more than sit around with your nose in a textbook. Even back when I was at Guilford, I realized that there is so much going on in the outside world — and most college students don't pay the slightest bit of attention. I wanted to be an exception.
That's why I was the editor of The Guilfordian newspaper my sophomore year. And why I took part in work projects during fall breaks from Guilford, like the one where we went to a battered women's shelter in the North Carolina mountains. We were there to help them create a thrift store to raise money, but we also spent time listening to their stories. I think that experience — hearing the horrors these women had lived through — made me painfully aware of the hardships the disempowered and disadvantaged face.
I really value those Guilford experiences. They taught me that critical element of not taking everything at face value — sometimes you have to dig a little deeper. Once I pass the bar and I'm out there fighting for civil rights, that concept may become more valuable than anything I ever learned in law school.