Attorneys might be understood as argumentative, but most can agree on the rigors of law school.
With classes now underway at Rutgers Law–Camden, let’s peer over the newly bought books and learn about those just beginning their immersion in torts, civ pro, and trial ad.
According Rutgers Law–Camden Dean of Enrollment Camille Andrews, the incoming Class of 2016-17 represents approximately 141 students from 27 different states, including Hawaii, as well as Puerto Rico and Canada.
First-year student Michael Ganoot traded up paradise for New Jersey. But leaving his home state of Hawaii for a law degree from Rutgers is well worth the journey. “Rutgers was the best available option to equip me to fulfill my ambitions,” says Ganoot. “I’ve never lived out of Hawaii for longer than two weeks…There’s a lot more out there in the world and I thought I was missing out by staying there.
“We’ll see if I’m still saying this once I have to walk in freezing cold and knee-high snow,” he laughs.
The threat of inclement weather did not deter an incoming class that represents alumni from more than 86 undergraduate schools, including Columbia, Duke, Emory, Harvard, and of course, Rutgers.
Sara Franklin, a UC-Berkeley grad, aims to further her career as an environmental scientist with a law degree. Prior to law school, Franklin worked in California in environmental compliance on a large-scale transmission line. She decided on law school when she learned on the job the significance of the law and her livelihood. “During my time on these projects, I realized that the law is really where the issues come from, regulation and interpretations of regulation, and how each side interpreted it.”
Other future attorneys in the Class of 2016-17 also bring vast professional experience, from educators to pharmacists, engineers to psychologists, to an interpreter for the hearing impaired to those who have served in the military.
May Wedlund, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, returned in June from Afghanistan, where she managed the country’s inventory of enhanced military items, including night-vision devices.
“It was the hardest I worked in my life for sixth months,” she says. “I actually wanted to stay longer, but had to return because I had other things to do.”
Those other things, of course, include pursuing her legal education at Rutgers. She joins a class that, according to Adam Scales, associate dean of academic affairs and professor of law, represents a strong, nationally-competitive student body.