Opportunities!

Being the president of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL) is something I decided to undertake because I felt I could do a lot to help our school. Our past president didn’t make the chapter a very active one and I wanted to do something about it. Therefore, on top of my 5 classes (yes, I know, I am crazy), I undertook a very heavy social calendar for my FAWL. I am proud to say that through blood, sweat, and tears, I have had an amazing semester with regards to FAWL. We had a supplement sale to raise money for our organization (which went super well!). Then we had a Breast Cancer Awareness sale and participated in the Race for The Cure breast cancer 5k walk/run and raised over $760 for breast cancer! We also had the opportunity to work with the Miami-Dade FAWL and had a “Speed-Networking” mentor/mentee event where we went around the room ranking possible mentors and networking with both Judges and Attorneys (from very prestigious firms, may I add!). This event was very successful and I was very happy to see several of my male members attend this wonderful opportunity! All the attendees then ranked the mentors in preference of whom they liked most and were later paired up according to both our rankings and compatibility. I was luckily paired with my first choice, Judge Glick, a Criminal Court judge for Miami-Dade County. As part of my mentee experience, I have been invited by the Judge to attend court for a day and see what she does on a daily basis. I believe this is an amazing opportunity that has been presented to me and I couldn’t be happier with my mentor. I also got to network at this event and got a couple of contact information from various other mentors, whom I plan to stay in touch with. Networking is very important because who you know will always facilitate the job search after or even during law school (obviously, after your first year – I don’t recommend anyone work during their first year, unless its completely necessary and administratively approved – since law school is the equivalent of what you feel when you are cultured shocked!). Lastly, this Halloween we held a costume drive and donated over 112 costumes to the children in the Women in Distress shelter of Broward County (a very special thanks to Silvia and her family, who own a costume store, for that!). I am really looking forward to all the things we will have going on next semester and all the wonderful opportunities being part of an organization can provide! So join an organization! It can be a source of endless opportunities you may not get as just a student!

Till next time,

Aimee S.