sarah-free

Are you involved in any community service or extracurricular activities? What have those experiences meant to you?

One of the best parts of law school for me has been student organizations, volunteer work, and just other efforts on campus. One of the biggest and most meaningful experiences for me was during my first semester of my second year when I was an extern at OSAD. There, we represented people who were challenging convictions or their sentences, sometimes both.

I did that for a semester while getting school credit, but I loved the work so much that I continued on the next semester in a role that was unpaid and where I wasn’t getting any credits because I felt like it put me in a position to tackle some really difficult questions. There are questions of the moral and ethical issues of jails, prisons, and the criminal legal system as a whole. I felt like I was in a position where I was doing work that was moving the needle of justice a little bit further.

As a student, it can be difficult to be in a position where you can actually see tangible results of your efforts. At OSAD, there were a number of cases, and we lost a lot of them. That work is really, really hard to win. But there were some cases where I found out much after the fact that we’d won re-sentencing hearings and had some convictions overturned outright, which has been incredible. That experience was incredibly meaningful for me.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time at Loyola?  

I think a lot of us come into law school having been sold this idea of the hero lawyer, and I think one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned is that sort of person doesn’t necessarily exist because to do this work well, you have to do it with other people. To do it with other people requires things like vulnerability and community and gentleness and room to make mistakes. In various student leadership positions, I’ve certainly made mistakes, and I’ve been in situations where people I really care for have helped hold me accountable. This can be uncomfortable sometimes, but it requires the willingness to really be human and be vulnerable with one another. In a field that I think really values seriousness and sometimes detached emotions, doing good work requires being human with other people. 

What are you planning to do with your degree? How has Loyola prepared you for your future goals?

My hope is to provide direct representation for folks who are currently incarcerated in the Illinois Department of Corrections. I feel that a lot of my experience, at least in law school, has led me in that direction. This kind of work has been the most meaningful for me, and that’s what I hope to dedicate my career to. In a perfect world, that kind of work isn’t even necessary, but while these issues still exist, I think that’s something that I certainly want to be involved in.