Watch the interviews or read the transcript on the UW School of Law news page.
Spring has sprung! The cherry blossoms are out on the Quad, people are having lunch outdoors again, and faces can be more fully seen as mask-wearing mandates ease.
On the first day of spring quarter, we took to the hallways of William H. Gates Hall to find out what Law Dawgs are looking forward to and what has inspired them while at UW Law.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT
Neela Brocato, 2L: I’m just really excited to be back in person and get to be on campus, especially with the cherry blossoms. I’m also really looking forward to taking evidence this year, because you used a lot in mock trial. So, I think it’ll be really helpful.
Jeanna Rice, M.J.: Biggest thing for spring quarter is just working my way up to the end of the MJ program and actually graduating. So, it’s been a process, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
Tiffany Rassavong, M.J.: So, this is my first quarter in person at the University of Washington, I’m just really looking forward to going to class in person and meeting with all new people.
Sean Keyes, 3L: I’m looking forward to completing LARW and advancing my writing and legal research skills with Professor Butler.
Jesse Johnson, 2L: I think I’m looking forward to the opportunity to engage with my classmates directly and professors directly. We have our mouths off, or have the option to have my mask off for the first time in my career, and this is the end of my second year. So, that’s kind of exciting.
Anthony Rassavong, M.J.: Well, hopefully, I am able to, like, finally put in my plan for the commencement. And then to finally graduate from grad school.
Clara Virden, 3L: So, I did the Race and Justice Clinic my 2L year and I had such a fantastic time. I got to work with real clients and work on real problems, and I was really passionate about it and I still keep in touch with a lot of my clinic, fellow clinic classmates and the clients and the professor.
Nick Clawson, 1L: So, I transitioned from military service back into academia, a bit of a weird transition for me. So, what kind of inspired me was failing initially—not actually failing, but like struggling a little bit to transition from professional career to a new professional career. So, what inspired me was kind of, you know, really running into that wall for the first time in a long time and overcoming it.
Lexie Mulkey, 1L: I think the thing that’s the most inspiring about UW Law is definitely the staff, especially the professors. Coming into law school, I wasn’t expecting to have so many female professors, especially women of color, and like three out of four so far have been women of color. So, I think that’s really inspiring, especially like as a woman of color for sure.
John Connelly, 3L: I’ve been inspired just by, I guess, being in this environment. It’s challenging, it’s competitive. You’re around incredibly smart people who are, you know, driven to achieve at extremely high levels. So, I think just the people around me have inspired me to really get the most of my education.
Priyanka Bhatt, LL.M.: One thing that inspired me to take this course was, you know, when I was working at Amazon, just the kind of products that, you know, we launched and day-to-day lives that help general people something that is a good mix of technology and your day-to-day usage.
Patrick Rettig, 1L: I would definitely say the perspectives of my classmates. You know, everyone brings something really unique and nice to the table. And it’s just really nice hearing all the stories from everyone else in class and throughout campus.
Luke Sturgeon, 3L: One of the most inspirational experiences I’ve had while I’ve been here has been as a student in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. The opportunity to work hands-on with actual clients is extremely rewarding—to help people form small businesses that really may have a long-lasting impact, or even change their lives.
Enny Olaleye, 1L: Honestly, the camaraderie and just everyone being together and working together at this law school has been really inspiring to me so far.
