What is your job/position?
Attorney-Advisor for U.S. Department of the Interior, Intermountain Region in Salt Lake City, UT. I advise the Department of the Interior client agencies, particularly the Upper Colorado Region of the Bureau of Reclamation. I also am an adjunct professor at BYU Law teaching Water Law.
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
I was very much against going to law school, particularly because I'm not always a good test taker (so the LSAT terrified me), and I wasn't sure if I could picture myself in law practice after all that schooling. During my second to last semester of undergrad, I participated in Washington Seminar with the Political Science department, and that really gave me a new perspective. In that program, I spent a semester in Washington, DC, doing an internship with the Federal Judicial Center and participating in briefings with our whole class each week where we would meet people in all kinds of different professions. During my time out there, it seemed like everyone in DC had a law degree, but they were using their law degrees in so many different careers. When I came home, I felt strongly that I needed to study for the LSAT. I still had no idea if that meant I was going to attend law school, but I did my best. I was eventually admitted to law school and, after graduation, took my first job with Interior, which is where I still am over 20 years later.
What are the specific competencies you cultivated as an American Studies student that you now use in your professional life and that set you apart from your colleagues?
I represent the Bureau of Reclamation, which is the largest wholesaler of water in the United States. All of the laws I work with are tied to some historical event during the settlement of the west. Understanding that history has meant everything in my job to analyze and explain the statutes that govern Reclamation. I also read, write, and use analytical skills, all of which I learned and cultivated as an American Studies major. In addition, I use my knowledge of economics, political science, history, humanities, and English in different ways in my job each day. I think the extremely well-rounded education we received as American Studies majors is exactly what I needed to prepare me for law school and to be a lawyer, and just as importantly in my personal life.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
I was very surprised at how much I have used history and economics in my work. I work with 8 volumes of historical statutes and case law that reflect the history of the settlement of the American West, and so much of my work is with water contracts. Water is a scarce resource in the west, so there are always discussions that include principles of economics.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
American Studies majors already have requirements to take classes in a variety of subjects, but there is ample flexibility to choose your classes, so my advice I would give to current (and future) students is to be very intentional about taking classes in as many different subject areas as possible. The breadth of knowledge over many subjects will be a valuable asset through the rest of their lives.
*You can contact Susannah with questions about her American Studies story at susannah8@gmail.com.