Year of graduation:
2012

Current job title:
Law Clerk

Current employer:
Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP

What did you like best/value most about DePaul’s English major?
Majoring in English gives you the unique opportunity to dive into and pull apart history-rich novels and plays under the guidance of passionate professors.  So often in the years since I’ve graduated, I’ve looked back and realized how lucky I was that it was my job to read, write and think about the books and authors that I love. Also, there is no substitute for being able to understand and converse in cultural references to the most famous and beloved written works. For example, I once got an interviewer at a law firm on a ten-minute tangent about George Eliot – and I got the internship.

How has what you learned in your English major applied to your current position?
I used the analytical skills I developed during my English major constantly throughout law school. Contrary to what you might see on TV, the main thing that law students (and lawyers) do is read and write! I participated in the writing competition after my first year of law school and made it on to the Law Review journal where I was an associate editor.

In my current position at Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP, one of my main jobs is to research the law, come to a conclusion based on our client’s facts and be able to explain my position clearly and convincingly through writing. These are skills I learned and honed while studying English at DePaul.

Why should students major in English at DePaul?
The English department faculty at DePaul know that students studying the liberal arts are perhaps doing so warily. They are incredibly knowledgeable and are truly experts in their various fields, but they are also wonderful mentors and provide excellent career advice to their students. Regardless of how passionate a student is about a topic, no one wants to come out on the other side of four years of hard work with a degree and no job. The English department is committed to teaching with an eye on the practical.