Three St. Joe’s Pre-Law program alumni returned to campus Sept. 13 to discuss their post-graduation lives.

The St. Joe’s Pre-Law program welcomed Ashley Varghese ’17, J.D., Ashley Hyman ’18, J.D. and Chelsea Kimball ’19, J.D., back to campus for a Q&A session. All three have graduated from law school and are working: Varghese, for Parker McCay P.A.; Hyman, for Lupton Law LLC; and Kimball, for Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc.

The event was held in the Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) Lounge and was sponsored by the Law Exploration Advancing Diversity (LEAD) program, which seeks to increase representation in the law.

The Q&A covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from how to study for the LSAT, how to balance school and life in law school and how to best take advantage of opportunities provided by law school.

All three of the panelists mentioned that a lot of the studying in law school is simply “learning how to learn,” or figuring out exactly what the professors want their students to know from long, detail-rich readings.

Paul Patterson, Ph.D., pre-law advisor and professor of English, said discussions with alumni can provide important new perspectives for students.

“Events like this really expose our students to people who are in the profession, who are doing the work and can speak to that experience and what it was like for them to have navigated law school and post law school,” Patterson said. “And they can just give our students a lot of insight into how those things work that they don’t get otherwise.”

A large portion of the discussion was dedicated to the difficulty law students face, both with homework and with their exams.

“Law school was a rude awakening,” the panelists agreed.

Fortunately, some attendees remain optimistic about furthering their passions for law. One of these students, John Council ’26, is an accounting and finance major who hopes to expand his knowledge of legal studies.

“I’ve always loved the law, but I know I don’t really want to do law school,” Council said. “But at the same time, I want to have a deeper understanding of law.”

Jaslin Vasquez-Gonzalez ’24, is another student interested in law school, and she said she believes increasing representation is important.

“I know how underrepresented we are in the law field,” Vasquez-Gonzales said. “And as a woman of color, I want to contribute to that. I want to make sure we’re represented in the law field… I want to see other people of color in the law field, and I want to be around people who have the same interest.”