Thank you to Professor Slavin for asking me, back in my first month as a wide-eyed 1L, to be on the blog. I thank you for both your confidence in me and this opportunity to attempt to prove you correct.
I started law school at a disadvantage; I didn’t want to be a lawyer. I say this is a disadvantage because I met many people who not only wanted to be a lawyer but had known this about themselves since childhood. Some followed in the steps of a family member and some found their way by other means. That wasn’t me. I don’t want to dwell on myself for very long; I only introduce this to preface my assessment of the legal community in Milwaukee.
As a woman who knew nothing more about being a lawyer than the little that I had seen on television, I was surprised and pleased by what I have found through Marquette. I moved from one of the largest cities in the country with a huge, and quite imposing, legal community to Milwaukee—for reasons other than to go to Marquette University Law School. I allowed myself to be swayed by the sparse contact that I had with Marquette officials to move to a city that I had previously given little thought to, let alone visited.
I’m glad that I did. I have found that the law students, lawyers, faculty, judges, and various staff members that I have interacted with since I have been at Marquette have, on the whole, been open, direct, and caring. The professors have been helpful, and the legal community welcoming. I don’t say this to say that another legal community would not be so welcoming, only that this one was a happy surprise to me.
In one semester, not only have I learned a great deal about the law and made, hopefully, life-long friends, I have also met and conversed with lawyers, judges, senators, state justices, and their generally over looked administrative assistants. I have learned from and with graduates of Harvard and Howard, Councilmen and the like. I had a detailed conversation with the president of that Association for Women Lawyers and competed in a Mediation competition with students in their 2L and 3L years. I have worked in the Milwaukee Justice Center directly assisting pro se litigants in starting or continuing real legal suits, and learned from a criminal trial judge more about jury instructions than I would have expected to know by graduation.
Again, I apologize for seemingly puffing myself up. I don’t say any of this to be a braggart. I simply want to express the wealth that the Milwaukee legal community holds. I also want to suggest that anyone who is not currently taking full advantage of this wealth is denying themselves a rich opportunity.
I have some things to say about the Milwaukee community in general, but that will have to wait for another blog posting.
And you will be glad to know that I do want to be a lawyer now. That story may be another post, as well. 
