What is your job/position?
I am a litigation attorney at an Am Law 100 firm in Seattle. I work primarily on securities litigation and complex commercial litigation, helping both public and private companies across a range of industries to navigate the challenges of civil cases. I also try to incorporate pro bono work into my practice and have assisted asylum applicants in obtaining work authorization in the US.
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
What I loved about American Studies was the way that it allowed me to pursue and balance several interests—my love for history, for English, and for political science. As I approached the end of my undergraduate work, I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school and continue my education, but I wasn't certain what form that would take. I wanted a career with good prospects, I wanted work that I would find meaningful and intellectually challenging, and I wanted something that would allow me to continue to hone the research and writing abilities I had developed in the American Studies program. I took the GRE and with encouragement from professors, began applying for MA and PhD programs in English and History, contemplating the path of academia. While I think that could have been very fulfilling, it just didn't feel like the right path for me—there was no subject that ignited so much passion at the time that I felt compelled to continue researching it. I wasn't sure what to do.
My very last semester, I decided to participate in the Washington Seminar internship program. I received several internship offers more in line with my humanities background, but ultimately selected one with the Federal Judicial Center, a federal agency that provides ongoing legal education courses to judges. I found myself working with former lawyers and current judges who had a great diversity in their former practices that opened eyes to just how many different types of law there were. I learned so much about the law and its capacity to help people, to be an agent for positive change in society and an advocate for the marginalized. I had taken a constitutional law political science class as part of my American Studies degree and really enjoyed it—that, combined with my new appreciation for the various options afforded by a career in the law, inspired me to very quickly prepare and submit applications to law schools ahead of spring deadlines. I was admitted to BYU Law and attended Admitted Students Day, where I was impressed by the other students and faculty. I could not have predicted it in January of that semester, but by April graduation I had committed to attend BYU Law the coming fall.
Law school was challenging but so rewarding. I made lifelong friendships with classmates and developed fantastic relationships with my professors. I discovered a passion for oral advocacy and litigation, and developed the skills needed to do it well. I competed on the trial advocacy team, was an editor at the BYU Law Review for two years, and participated in the International Law Student Association. Despite having no lawyers in my family, with support from the law school I became aware of new opportunities and was encouraged to reach for lofty goals. After graduation, I completed a federal clerkship with a judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City. Thereafter, I joined my current law firm, where I have thoroughly enjoyed my work. It is challenging at times, but I have learned so much from excellent mentors here. It is as meaningful and intellectually stimulating as I had hoped. When people ask about my career path, I describe it as serendipitous—I feel grateful for the little decisions and spiritual inspiration along the way that led me to where I am now. It's not what I was planning as an undergraduate, but it's a rewarding career that I love.
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?
The writing abilities I cultivated in the American Studies program are far and away the most critical competency that has set me apart as a law student and lawyer. I appreciated that I developed the ability to write in different styles (the requirements for an English paper are very different than the expectations for history paper or political science paper, for example—American Studies majors have to juggle them all). I learned to pay close attention to detail, which has been a key skill in my legal writing.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
As an American Studies major I developed a story-telling ability that has served me well in my career. The ability to bring together disparate threads or facts and weave them together into a cohesive narrative is relevant to my practice in ways I wouldn't have expected. But writing a persuasive brief or crafting a compelling oral argument, at the core, comes down to telling my client's story in a compelling way. It requires pulling meaning out of different sources and putting it together in a way that will make sense to a judge, jury, or opposing counsel. Learning about one subject through a variety of disciplines helped me hone that story-telling ability even as an undergraduate.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
Develop 2–3 hypotheses for what you might like to do after graduation, then actively test those hypotheses. Get permission to sit in on a master's in English or law school class to see if you like it. Pursue internships that will let you test out certain industries. Do everything you can so that you have a plan you're excited about by graduation!
Also, develop good relationships with faculty—it is fortunate to be in a small program where you can really get to know your professors. Take advantage of it! They are amazing, and relationships with them will be some of the best memories you carry out of your time at BYU.