Jae Wakeling is a first-year student at Loyola Law School — she works full-time as a paralegal while attending Loyola’s hybrid evening program.
One piece of advice that I got prior to starting law school was to also use law school as an opportunity to network, and to take advantage of as many opportunities to explore and network as possible. At Loyola, there have been several different opportunities and types of events where I was able to network.
Some of the events were offered through an LLS student organization, such as APALSA (Asian Pacific American Law Students Association). APALSA holds an annual “night market” where people could play games, win prizes, and mingle with students from other law schools and attorneys who were sponsors and/or alumni of APALSA. I was able to talk with a currently practicing tax attorney, a corporate litigation attorney, and I was able to meet students from UCLA, Southwestern, USC, Pepperdine, UC Irvine, and Chapman.
Other events were offered directly from Loyola—such as the First-Year Alumni Mentorship program. In September of last year, I was matched with an alumni mentor who had also gone through the hybrid evening program at Loyola. My alumni mentor and I have been able to connect several times over phone, and she has given me advice on everything from self-care and withstanding pressure to how to get through law school exams. Although I work with attorneys at my job as a paralegal, being able to talk with a currently practicing attorney, who has been through the exact same program I am currently going through, has been invaluable.
TOPICS: Alumni, Networking