12C / GRADUATION GUIDE / THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Valerie Skubal/KANSAN
Lindsey Willard, a senior from Kansas City, Mo. and Dana Aks, a senior from Overland Park plan to go to Law School upon graduation. Both said they are mentally prepared for the work load that awaits them.
The journey to grad school
BY TAYLOR LEWIS tlewis@kansan.com
According to Dana Aks, law school isn't for the faint of heart. Literally.
While Aks, a senior from Overland Park, was taking her LSATs, a fellow test taker fainted, and the group had to keep on working.
That stern atmosphere extends beyond the test-taking room. For the next three years, Aks along with Lindsey Willard, a senior from Kansas City, Mo., will live that intense lifestyle in law school.
"Law school is a whole different way of learning," Aks said. "You sit down and they call on you and you better know it."
Although both students are still unsure of which school they will be attending in the fall, they are both mentally prepared for the work load that awaits them. After her parents' divorce in elementary school, Willard knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.
"The main reason I want to go to law school is to help kids and be a family law attorney, at least right now. That's my main goal, to work in that area." Willard said.
Aks is the first in four generations to not go to medical school and is hoping to work as a prosecutor. After a summer internship working with a criminal defense firm in London, she realized she would never be able to defend criminals.
"With criminal defense, you're basically defending the person that is accused of the crime," Aks said. "With a prosecutor, you work for the state and you try to put those people in jail."
But before Aks and Willard can fulfill their career goals, they must first endure three years of school. For the first year, classes are predetermined, but for the remaining years, students have the freedom and ability to study their ideal field, but the journey to get to that point can be tough.
To begin the application process, students must perfect both their academic and extracurricular resumes, maintain a strong GPA throughout their undergraduate years, and receive a solid score on the LSATs, a required law school entry exam.
But the tumultuous journey doesn't end after the lengthy application process. Students must transition to the strict teaching methods of law school professors.
"It teaches you a completely different way to think, which is scary and daunting for a lot of students because it's very unique to any other class you can take here at the
University besides any other law class". Willard said.
Although the thought of law school may intimidate a lot students, both Akas and Willard feel prepared and confident with their decision to further their education, not only for educational purposes, but economical reasons, as well.
"When the economy started going down, I was like, I'm staying in school. I'm going to try to wait out the storm and see if I can get a job." Aks said.
Aks isn't alone in that mind set. According to the Law School's Admission Council's website, nearly 20 percent of all law school applicants were older than 30 in 2006, a sign that the economy is directing adults back to professional school, something that only increases the already competitive entry.
Both Aks and Willard know that, despite strong competition, through the process, it's important that they - and all other graduate students - keep one thing in mind:
"Be prepared for it to be a journey,not a short walk," said Willard. "It's marathon process. Be ready to run that marathon."
Edited by Kate Larrabee
Legacy graduates carry on tradition
Kyle Martin, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas, is a fifth generation Jayhawk. Martin is also a third generation KU band member.
BY ELLEN SHEFTEL
esheftel@kansan.com
Daniel Johnson/KANSAN
For some seniors, graduation means more than being done with school and finding a job. It means becoming a part of something greater and joining their family members in being a legacy graduate.
Kyle Brown, a senior from Fort Worth, Texas., is experiencing how it feels to be a legacy graduate. Brown will be a fifth generation lavawk.
"I had five older cousins that all could have been the first fifth generation Jayhawk, but none of them went to KU. My grandma was very excited that the legacy would continue. Now my sister is at school here and after one year at Texas Tech, my brother will be a freshman next year," Brown said.
The University has been a part of Brown's family for more than a century, but he is not the only one who has experienced this.
Jennifer Jackson Sanner, senior vice president for communications and corporate secretary at the KU Alumni Association, said that, combined, there are around 200 third, fourth and fifth Jayhawk Generations.
"The Jayhawk Generations terms as been around since the 20s and we have been recognizing the legacies in the Alumni Association magazine since KU had its first second generation," Sanner said.
Brown said he is very proud to be a legacy graduate.
"I had always wanted to be a Jayhawk, now that I am a Jayhawk forever, it is a great feeling." Brown said. "Not only am I a 5th generation Jayhawk, but I am a third generation KU Band member," Brown added.
Whitney Eriksen, the sales and
communications coordinator at the KU Alumni Association, said there is definitely something special about graduating as a legacy. "I am a fourth generation Jayhawk and so is my sister. We didn't really have a choice about where to go to college, and now I work here," Eriksen said.
Brown did not look too far into other colleges either. "I applied to one school, and one school only. I think I was locked into KU when I was five" he said.
The bond between a legacy graduate and their parents is remarkable. Sanner said the feeling parents get when their child decides to carry on the tradition at the University is extremely special. "The notion of KU ancestry that they experienced and now their children are experiencing is pretty powerful," Sanner said. "It is also fun to talk to the parents about this because they are so excited
about their child coming here and the special connection they have is really special"
Sanner also knows this first hand because she has children at the University.
"As an alumna and having kids who go to KU, it has been so different to learn about the University through their eyes," she said. "It makes the college experience even more memorable for the whole family."
The Alumni Association will be honoring all graduates through several events during Commencement weekend. The Grad Grill is May 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the Commencement Luncheon is May 16 at the Chancellor's Residence from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. A Student Alumni Association members only Finals Dinner is also May 10.
Edited by Kate Larrabee