Alumna April Stone: Up For Every Challenge
by Melissa Green |
We sat down to talk with UAA Justice Center alumna April Stone about what it鈥檚 like to be a nontraditional student pursuing a law career.
We sat down to talk with alumna April Stone about what it鈥檚 like to be a nontraditional student pursuing a law career. In 2017 April graduated from the Justice Center鈥檚 accelerated justice major, which allowed her to enter law school鈥攕omething she always knew she wanted to do鈥攁fter her third year as an undergrad. In addition to being a parent, April worked as a paralegal before and during her time at UAA. She is currently finishing her JD at the University of Oregon School of Law.
How would you describe your experience as a nontraditional student at the Justice Center?
It was nothing like I thought it would be. I was expecting to be the old person in college when I started at 27 years old. I realized very quickly that many students at UAA were both older than me and younger than me, and I was relieved that there was so much age diversity.
I also didn鈥檛 want my undergraduate program to be so time consuming that it took away from my ability to be a parent. Balancing full-time work, school and parenting required a lot of organization鈥擨 needed to block time out to do homework, and also to be a parent. But I found that with careful planning it was totally manageable.
I also found that online classes worked really well for me, because I wanted to be at home more and minimize the amount of time I had to take off work. I was surprised at how many classes I could take without going to campus.
What do you like about law as a career?
I like the challenge! There鈥檚 so much strategy involved, and that makes it intellectually stimulating. I also like the ability to help someone in a way that they can鈥檛 help themselves. People depend on lawyers for all kinds of things鈥攕ometimes in critical situations, sometimes to plan for the future, or sometimes just to handle a problem that鈥檚 been nagging at them. But each of those things involves a lawyer offering something that people couldn鈥檛 do on their own. I like the responsibility that comes with that. No matter what type of work I鈥檓 doing, it really benefits someone.
What advice would you give students who want to go to law school?
Becoming a lawyer is a lot of work. You can expect your class workload to double or triple in the first year of law school, so make sure you鈥檙e fully invested and put in everything you鈥檝e got. But I鈥檇 also say: Don鈥檛 underestimate yourself. Don鈥檛 assume that you鈥檙e not capable of the work, and don鈥檛 self-select out of opportunities by saying 鈥淚鈥檓 not good enough so I鈥檓 not even going to try.鈥� Because that鈥檚 how you miss out on the best opportunities.
Any words of wisdom for nontraditional students?
I would definitely recommend that every student鈥攏ontraditional or not鈥攖ake advantage of UAA鈥檚 tuition waiver opportunities. Those helped me through a lot of semesters, and some years they covered up to half of my tuition.
For working students: Ask questions. As a working parent, I approached my boss and said, 鈥淚 want to go to college if you鈥檙e supportive of it.鈥� I was able to work a crazy schedule so that I could leave for a few hours in the middle of the day to go to class. Reach out to everyone鈥攜our family and friends, your childcare provider, your boss, your school. There鈥檚 more support and resources for non-traditional students than I ever expected.
Also, talk to your professors! I got some great advice from the faculty in the Justice Center by just knocking on doors and saying, 鈥淗ere鈥檚 what I want to do鈥攈elp me get there.鈥� Students don鈥檛 always take advantage of the wealth of knowledge in the Justice Center, and the resources there that help you reach your goals beyond college. I鈥檓 grateful to the faculty who helped me put this career plan together.
Learn more
Student Stories
Research
Events and Highlights
Alumni
In the News
Awards
Community
COVID-19
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion