October 18, 2003
By Laura Erion
Reprinted with permission from the Daily Vidette.
Students in the pre-law program can gain experience and knowledge from ISU alumni in the judicial system. Alumni from all over the country are helping ISU through the new pre-law mentoring program.
"This mentor program started just a few weeks ago, but it has been in the works over a year," Robert Bradley, a pre-law Advisement Center Director and Politics and Government Associate Professor, said.
The program works to place a student with an attorney or judge in the student's specification, Bradley said. From entertainment to defense, ISU mentors are ready to bring students into the office for a day, Bradley said. Mentors can continue to advise students on the application process and helpful classes to take during a student's undergraduate career, he said. This program is beneficial for freshman students as well, Bradley said. Students in the program may work with an attorney to see what the profession is about before committing to the profession.
"For anyone that is applying to law school this is something to consider," Bradley said.
"This makes a great addition to the personal statement," Bradley added.
A student could use this mentoring program to show his or her top choice school that he or she is not only interested in a certain specialty of law, but has acted on that interest, Bradley said. Two students, senior politics and government major Barbara Figari and senior history major James Gleffe took a large part in the construction of this program, Bradley said. President of the Attorney Alumni Council Patrick Cotter assisted Figari and Gleffe during the construction process of this program, he added. Gleffe and Figari created a questionnaire designed to assist pre-law students in identifying the specialty of law they are interested, Bradley added.
"So far there have been 12 to 15 matches of students and attorneys made," Bradley said.
More than 20 students have filled out forms and there are approximately 100 volunteers across the country waiting to take students on, Bradley added.
"It is disappointing that not many students have taken advantage of this opportunity," politics and government professor Thomas Eimermann said.
The mentor program is a regenerating process, Eimermann said. Each year there are new students coming into the pre-law program and new alumni volunteers added to the program, he said. Students who are interested in joining the mentor program can obtain information at the Pre-law Advisement Center, which is located on the fifth floor of Milner library, Bradley said.
