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By MSU student Lisa Lucido.

This is the second in our series of posts from the James Madison Alumni Career Day. Check out the first here. 

I can’t believe that I am finally a senior …It doesn’t seem like freshman year was that long ago when I was freaking out that I had to take a blue book exam on the Federalist Paper—now I sit here trying to make one of the biggest decisions of my life….where should I attend law school? Law school has been in the back of my mind ever since I came to Michigan State. It wasn’t until last summer after an internship at a news station that I decided I wanted to take the LSAT, a real last minute decision. So after only two months of intense prep, I took the test in September. The months following have been a complete whirlwind from filling out applications to waiting for decisions. Now that I have heard back from most schools, I feel like I am stuck in a weird limbo. I have a thousand questions I need someone to answer so I can make the right decision. 

James Madison hosted their annual career day last week where students had the chance to talk with alumni and learn about what led them to the position they are in today. I sat in on the law panel hoping to have some of my questions answered. I was really surprised to hear that two of the alumni attended law schools that I applied to: MSU College of Law and New England Law Boston. 

My problem is that I don’t know whether to choose a school that is ranked lower but gave me a huge scholarship or to go to a higher ranked school. The panelists didn’t really give a direct answer, but they did point out that money DOES matter. Law school is expensive—like, super expensive. I already have some loans for undergrad so I am really worried that I could rack up a total of $150,000 in debt coming out of law school. That really is a lot of money and did help me put things into better perspective. 

So then I ask the panel what I should do in the few months before law school. All the panelists almost simultaneously answered....HAVE FUN.  Doug Hyne’s, a lawyer from, and professor at, New England College of Law Boston, had a story that really struck me. Before attending law school he was a car salesman. He was basically desperate to earn money before going back to school and found out that a local dealership had an opening. So he went to the dealership and got an interview. One of the first questions the owner asked Doug was what was your major in college? Doug replied, “Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy”. All the owner could say was, “All right, well, now I know why you want to sell cars”. The entire room had laughed at Doug’s story, but Doug said his days at the dealership really helped him in law school. He learned how to deal with many different types of people and he learned the art of convincing—two qualities that make a good lawyer. I felt relieved, I can work at a mall job and have a life this summer before I experience three years of intense studying. 

I am really glad that I was able to connect with alumni on a personal level at the James Madison College Alumni Career Day. After the event, Doug gave me his contact information and we have been e-mailing back and forth about school in Boston. He even offered to give me a tour of the school and show me around the city if I decide to go there. I think it’s so important for students to take the opportunity and go these events and build their network. Having these connections could help you land that job or get into school later down the road. In three months I will be a James Madison College alumni and I know that I will be committed to helping other Madison students because of the great alumni connections I made while I was here.