|
|
|
 |
|
|
| By ADAM HOLLAND, Wisconsin |
Having grown up in Utah and having attended BYU, excepting my mission in Taiwan, my first day of law school was the first I had been in an environment not dominated by LDS students. That day I had an interesting experience that affected my life in unforeseen ways.
The University of Wisconsin Law School’s atrium is a large, open area where new students can socialize and converse with representatives of various student organizations. Already knowing that no JRCLS chapter existed at my law school, I decided to speak to a grey-haired man who represented the Christian Legal Society. The man happily shook my hand and told me how excited he was that more Christians were studying law. His expression of happiness came to an abrupt halt, however, when I answered his question concerning my denomination. He stammered, “It wouldn’t be a good fit.” I tried to ask if he had a poor experience with Latter-day Saints before and tried to explain that I would not try to convert but merely would like to take part in Bible-related discussions. He responded by shaking his head and repeating, “It wouldn’t be a good fit.” I was stunned. After spending two years of my life in Taiwan listening to people speak about me and my companions as the “Christian missionaries,” I found myself barred from a Christian legal organization. I decided that day that the University of Wisconsin Law School needed a chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
In April 2007, the UW Chapter had its inaugural meeting. The meeting was special as it marked the first time that an LDS law student organization has existed in the state of Wisconsin even though the Law School has links to the LDS Church as President Spencer W. Kimball had two sons who were involved with the school: Professor Edward Kimball taught for a number of years before going on to be one of the founding faculty at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU and Spencer Le Van Kimball was the UW Law School’s dean from 1968 to 1972.
Creating the chapter has been invaluable in my career search. After coming up empty-handed from both the law school’s and MBA school’s on-campus interviews, (I was a finance major in the Marriott School) I was also disappointed in the results of my mass mailings to law firms. Knowing I would graduate in a few months and would need funds to provide for my wife and children, I desperately prayed for help. During one of these stressful days I was walking by the UW Business School’s career center and noticed recruiters from one of the “big four” accounting firms that was not recruiting at the law school. I introduced myself to one of the recruiters who, it turned out, also recruited at BYU. The recruiter offered to place my name on the firm\'s internal database. Within a few weeks I was contacted by the firm’s HR representative who told me that the firm would like me to fly to their office in Chicago for an interview.
Once in Chicago, the interviewer initiated the conversation by saying, “I like BYU grads and members of the JRCLS because I know what I’m getting. When I was on my mission ....\" My prayers were answered. Later, in case I failed to see divine intervention when it lands in my lap, while home at Christmas after my initial interview, my friend’s father told me that he was a retired partner who founded the firm’s Salt Lake office. He offered to write the letter of recommendation that secured my employment. I will always be grateful to all those who have aided me in establishing the UW chapter and the blessings that have come into my life as a result of it.
As an aside, I and the rest of the UW chapter, would like to wish our current advisor, Professor Gordon Smith, well as he leaves for his position at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. His successor, Larry Church, was a visiting professor at BYU. |
|
|