LSJ Alum Keith Hiatt spoke to students at the Law, Societies, and Justice Alumni Mixer about the choices available to students after college, the process of getting into law school or a Ph.D. program, and the importance of living a balanced life.
Hiatt, a 2004 LSJ graduate, is a law school graduate and Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley and is currently serving as a judicial law clerk for a judge on the Ninth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.
Hiatt spoke to students about the difficulty of choosing what path to take after graduating from the University of Washington.
“The good news is that there are a lot of possibilities and… a lot of opportunities that I had being a graduate from such a great university,” said Hiatt. “The ‘bad’ news is that there are a lot of opportunities and it may be hard for you to choose what path you want to go on.”
Hiatt struggled with the decision of whether to pursue a Ph.D. or to go to law school and after much internal debate, he decided to pursue both.
“The thing that was really helpful for me that kind of cracked the code on how to make this decision was figuring out that I needed to decide how I like to spend my time,” said Hiatt.
He said that at first he struggled with the idea of figuring out what he wanted to “be” but decided that was not the right question. He advised students to think about the activities that they enjoy and find a way to connect this with how they envision spending their time.
As a clerk, he said that his schedule may sound tedious and monotonous for a lot of people but, for him, it is connected with what he wants to do in life.
While students are often driven to find law-related internships or jobs, Hiatt stressed that it is more important to find opportunities and experiences that reflect their passion and interests. Hiatt said that the job experience that was most interesting to employers was his time at Microsoft, which he said “has nothing to do with law.”
Hiatt said that when students do apply for law school or a Ph.D. program, they should know that admission committees are looking for students who are not only academically capable of handling coursework but are also able to interact with other people, show some leadership skills, and possess other interests.
“It is really good advice to get a life that is going to be outside of your academic life and that is going to be important once you go to law school or a Ph.D. program because that is going to be the thing that grounds you,” said Hiatt.
This idea of living a balanced life resonated with LSJ junior Alyssa Broenneke, who said that the event was helpful because students are often under a lot of pressure to find the right internship and job, which will enhance their resume. For her, Hiatt’s talk eased her fears of finding internships and opportunities that are not directly related to her academic work.
“I think it’s the basic message that we need: to be a balanced person,” said Broenneke. “I think that it makes us a well-rounded person because studying for the classroom will not be as important for whatever job we have whenever we get to the ‘real world.’ We are going to need much more than theories from a book.”
As a student, Broenneke said that it is helpful to attend events like these because she is able to see someone who was in her position and see how the material in the classroom is applicable to the careers that LSJ alums pursue.
This article was composed by Charlotte Anthony.