Summer Intern at the Law Office of Laurie W. Fiedler in Wayne, NJ
I came to Wheaton knowing that I loved to write and that I was going to be an attorney. There is no real prerequisite major for law school, but there are certainly some that prepare you for a career in law, and I knew that further developing my writing skills, along with pursuing the art I loved, was something that could be developed through studying in the English department and concentrating in writing.
Between my sophomore and junior year, I had the opportunity to clerk at the Law Office of Laurie W. Fiedler in Wayne, NJ, where I worked on a wide variety of cases. During my time there, I was able to do everything from negotiating settlements to interviewing and maintaining strong relationships with high profile expert witnesses. These successes, however, were not accomplished on a whim but rather took a lot of research and written and verbal presentation before becoming a reality for our clients.
Graduating after my third year at Wheaton, I was hired by Congressman Rodney P. Frelinghuysen of New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District to act as Outreach Coordinator. In this role, I act with and for the Congressman and a great staff to help constituents with their needs and to support new and ongoing efforts in the district. An essential part of doing the job well is being or becoming informed and then informing others about an issue—whether local or national—and how it affects them.
In both of these roles, there is not a singular skill set involved in producing a boxed-up product. These are positions that require the juggling of skills as one works through an issue with people from start to finish while simultaneously communicating with other authorities and organizations associated with whatever a person may have a need for or from. These aren’t the kinds of things that you can learn in any major offered at any undergraduate institution, but the skills of writing and communicating precisely and effectively, as well as researching and reading deeply, are skills that I was able to hone uniquely as an English major. On top of this, I look forward to using these skills in the future during law school and as an attorney, and relish the moments I can use them now, on the back of discarded drafts and memos, through poetry.