The transition from law student to practicing attorney can be challenging. 再加上COVID-19大流行, 隔离，在家工作和学习, 这种转变变得更加复杂.
我们采访了三位法学院最近的校友，讲述了他们从学生时代的转变, 学习和参加律师资格考试并进入实习——所有这些都发生在全球大流行期间.
Why did you become an attorney and what are your career goals?
Yasmin Herdoiza (J.D. ’21): I originally wanted to go into psychology or counseling. 在攻读学位的同时, 我在一家非营利组织工作，在那里我为有智力和身体残疾的儿童提供一些家庭护理. This experience showed me what it was like for disabled children living in poverty, and it sparked something in me to learn how to help them. I did some research on family law and talked to my father, 谁是律师?, 关于监护人的诉讼工作. He was super happy when I told him about my plans to go to law school, 但是没有参加的压力. I want to be a judge one day, because that is the way to make fundamental changes.
约翰·派普斯.D. ’20): Before law school, I worked a couple of blue-collar jobs. 我还没有找到适合我的职业，但我知道我想要一份有更大目标的工作. I became a lawyer to help provide low-income Kansas Citians dignity in the legal process. 哈特兰就业与自由中心非常适合我所设想的工作. 我想留在哈特兰，帮助建立一个与低薪工人一起的运动，提高他们的地位，改善他们的生活和工作条件. 我的下一个职业目标是看到哈特兰中心和密苏里工人中心成功地推动堪萨斯城通过一项法律，为所有面临驱逐的租户提供辩护律师. 我们知道，普遍代表权对租户和所有低薪工人来说都是一个改变游戏规则的因素.
克莱尔·怀亚特.D. ’21): I loved arguing and advocating from childhood onwards. 我的初恋是电影，但我很快就对市场营销和商业世界感到厌倦. I decided I wanted a career that gave me more purpose and the ability to serve others. 我喜欢在法庭上. 我的爱好是动物法. 这是一个很小的领域，工作机会很少. 动物法是我的梦想. I also interned with Jackson County Prosecutors Office, which was great experience.
What were your strategies for studying for the bar exam?
YH: 运动让我保持动力. 我经常出去散步. I got a Fitbit and logged hundreds of steps each time. I also had a rotation of flashcards and took them on my walks. My boyfriend walked with me and he would read the cards to me.
JP: I gained a lot of good skills studying for the bar. Due to the pandemic, I was home a lot and had time to study. I treated law school as a job and had a schedule each day. The closer I got to the exam, I added more and more work to my days. Normally, I would have studied at the library, but I had to study at home. 这是最难的. But I learned to make it work, and now I’m more equipped to work from home.
CW我花了几天的时间来整理我的ADD诊断和以前的住宿记录. I then had to appeal my denial of accommodations when the board denied my request. Eventually, they reversed the decision and granted me partial accommodations. 我为自己使用UMKC法律教会我的敏锐技能为自己辩护而感到自豪.
为酒吧做准备, 有很多天我不能完成我的酒吧预科项目分配给我的所有任务, 但我坚持了下来. I am very grateful that it ended up being more than sufficient to pass the bar.
Where do you work now and what do you like about being an attorney?
YH: 我在密苏里州检察官办公室工作. The experiences I got from my internship helped a lot. I have been doing discovery and working on low-level felonies. 压力很大. 当我的客户被拘留时，我很担心他们.
我喜欢做公设辩护律师. 我相信康复框架. Incarceration doesn’t prevent crime and affects more than just the accused. Many people can’t afford bond and that affects their families, jobs and housing. 有时人们需要获得成功的机会，即使他们之前失败过. 我们必须相信并支持他人.
JP: 我于2020年5月毕业，当时正值疫情初期. I went to work for a personal injury attorney for a few months, then decided to transition away from that work and applied for a Truman Fellowship. 当了三个月的杜鲁门研究员之后, I moved to the Heartland Center for 工作 and Freedom, where I took a long-term position doing similar tenant defense work. 我的工作对象是那些在驱逐诉讼中沦为被告的低薪工人，我为这些租户提供免费的法律代理和建议.
他是杜鲁门奖学金获得者，现在在哈特兰中心工作, 我喜欢为那些自己很少有钱请律师的人提供出色的法律代表. 在哈特兰中心，我们知道为租户聘请律师是多么重要. 没有律师, 由于房东几乎总是由法律顾问代表，所以90%的情况下租户都会输掉官司. 当房客有律师为他们辩护时, 结果是颠倒的, 在99%的情况下，驱逐都被阻止了. I enjoy helping to keep people housed in the long and short term.
CW: I am a Truman Fellow working with the UMKC Tenant Representative initiative. 我的日常工作包括接待客户, 与客户端交换表单, 与对方律师或业主沟通(没有法律顾问的业主), 阅读租约和分类账, 起草和解协议, 更新客户的案件状态，并尽我所能帮助客户处理相关的住房事宜. We have several evictions dockets each week in the Truman Fellowship, 所以出庭是这份工作的重要组成部分.
我喜欢我正在做的工作. 我喜欢批判性地思考和精心论证，我喜欢倡导和帮助别人. 我喜欢解决问题, and I feel really fortunate that I’m in a position to help others solve theirs. 学习法律，并在法律机构中为自己找到一个潜在的位置，是我一生中最强大、最具变革性的经历之一.
Tell us about your transition from student to professional.
YH: Through my internship, I argued in court before I graduated, which was helpful. When my internship pivoted from in-person to virtual, the change was very difficult. 我必须自己做事情. 从学生到专业人士最具挑战性的部分是责任. My co-workers are helpful, but it is my name, my bar license and no one else’s. 没人对我负责，除了我自己.
JP: The Truman Fellowship really helped me with the transition and to hone my skills. 我在法官面前露面, 处理我自己的案子, and pursued the best way to keep evictions off a person’s record. 被授予奖学金是一种真正的荣誉. The people I worked with were passionate, and I enjoyed having a transition period. 我涉足了“房东-租客”的领域，现在我也在Heartland参与其中. 自从我获得奖学金以来, 我在哈特兰中心找到了一群很棒的同事，他们对我们的工作充满热情，互相尊重. 为此我很感激.
CW: 从学生到专业人士的转变比我想象的要慢，也要辛苦. 过去的九个月就像过了九年. I went straight from school into intensive bar prep. Pandemic fatigue was very prevalent over the summer, but we all had to soldier on and prepare for the bar exam. 这是非常严格的，但我必须记住我为什么要做这一切——因为我想帮助别人. 在法学院的时候，我得到了实习机会，这有助于我从学生到专业人士的过渡，因为我相信，当我最终获得执业许可时，我已经做好了充分的准备. I am also really grateful for the UMKC Truman Fellowship, 允许我在拿到律师资格考试成绩之后，在拿到律师资格考试成绩之前，为UMKC的租户代表计划工作. 我们急需房客的帮助, and it’s great that UMKC was willing to jump in and offer help. 它帮助了我们社区里的很多人，让他们在疫情肆虐的时候呆在家里.
What advice do you have for someone considering law school?
YH: 这是一条陡峭的学习曲线. You’ll be drinking from a fire hydrant, but it’s fun. There’s nothing better than a client telling you, ‘thank you.“这种感觉真的很好.
CW: I would encourage future law students to accept that in learning this new, 巨大的纪律, they might at times feel stupid or incapable; they might fall short of their aspirations. 我会鼓励他们接受这种恐惧，而不是与之抗争:加入模拟审判团队，即使他们害怕这会给他们的时间表增加多少时间, participate in student organizations as members or allies, and speak their truth when they’re afraid of how it will be received by their classmates. 我也会告诉新的法律系学生，他们的兴趣可能会随着他们对不同法律领域的学习而改变，并对出现的新机会和新视野持开放态度.
