of Technology, he plans to return to engineering after graduating with his J. D. Although he has decided not to practice, he considers his legal studies far from a waste of time,“ I try to take classes that have some purpose or some relevance in my career … I personally feel like my J. D., even though I do not plan to practice law, will help my professional career as an engineer.” Mr. Edwards is the Vice President of the GSU Chapter of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund and works part-time while attending school.
Colt Burnett first thought about becoming a lawyer his senior year at the University of Georgia. After studying Spanish and Journalism, he took a job thousands of miles from Athens, as a television news producer in Indiana. His brief career in journalism was an eventful one, following the summer of 2015, in which the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, then-Indiana-governor Mike Pence prompted controversy after signing into law an anti-LGBT religious freedom bill. In 2016, Mr. Burnett’ s Indiana town was visited by then-candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Mr. Burnett decided that he no longer wanted to cover the action, but to be a part of it. He says coverage of current events only deepened his interest in the law. When asked what parallels he draws between the two professions he responded,“ Big concepts that come to mind are teamwork, deadlines, and long hours. I also think both professions require integrity and diligence. And coffee. Lots of coffee.”
Catherine Gavrilidis is a 2L student at the GSU College of Law, who is interested both employment law, as well as criminal.“ My interest in employment stems from my experiences at work … especially having seen how slight factual variations can draw drastically different results,” says Ms. Gavrilidis. She says her direction following law school is not set in stone, but she has appreciated the opportunity to apply her knowledge of criminal law to her moot court competition problem. She acknowledges her employment experience for providing her with a place to pick up practical skills like multi-tasking and project management,“ which is very useful now that I ' m both working and going to school.” Ms. Gavrilidis is a part-time student who works for Team Trivia, a company that coordinates live trivia games in bars and restaurants all over the country, as well as for corporate and special events. Her primary responsibility is running the national franchise network, which hosts approximately 850 live games nationwide every week, and acting as support for the franchisees, from development strategy to printing / promotional needs, as well as marketing, web and game development, and local responsibilities as needed. Ms. Gavrilidis credits her employment for her decision to come to law school, citing an interest in how to organize a company, but she says,“ It was watching the lawyers during jury duty that finally sold me.”
Before attending law school, 2L Student, Luke Perdue was responsible for the training, direction, and discipline of a four-man machine gun team deployed in Djibouti. Prior to his deployment, he worked as an account manager at IZEA, Inc., a start-up social media and digital marketing agency. Mr. Perdue says he always wanted to be an attorney but wanted to be sure he was making the right choice. His time overseas reinforced his desire to help others and served as the final motivating factor to apply to law school. Mr. Perdue plans to draw from both of his previous employment experiences following graduation,“ I am looking to rejoin the US Army as a Judge Advocate General because it is the best of both worlds. I would be able to continue serving my country as a soldier, while also helping those who serve alongside me, as a military attorney. I am also interested in Data Privacy and Compliance, as I find this rapidly growing field fascinating.” Mr. Perdue spent his semester working at an immigration firm, and says although work and class can be daunting,“… turning this black letter law knowledge into a brief on a client ' s behalf helps ground the law in something more immediate and approachable, while also being incredibly rewarding.” ▪
10 November 2017