Law Students' Corner - Washburn Univ. Sch. of Law

• Publication year: 2024
• Citation: Vol. 93 No. 4 Pg. 26
• Pages: 26

Law Students’ Corner – Washburn University School of Law93 J. Kan. Bar Assn 4, 26 (2024)Kansas Bar JournalAugust 2024

The COVID Catalyst: One Non-Traditional Law Student's Journey from Teaching to Law School

By Caitlin Kremer, Washburn University School of Law

Most would agree that COVID caused a ripple of changes, many of which permanently changed business practices, educational programming, consumerism, and the employment landscape. Amid the pandemic's uncertainty, many used COVID as a chance to reevaluate their careers and make a career change.^[1] Indeed, COVID was the catalyst for me to leave my established career and two related college degrees and head for law school.

I was teaching high school science, pregnant with my first child, and on my way to a much-needed spring break when the pandemic hit. I left school Friday, March 13, 2020, ready to relax and prepare for my maternity leave — starting in a few weeks — only to go into labor that night. While her arrival a month early was unexpected, as a science teacher I was pumped for a Pi Day baby! The shutdowns happened while we were in the hospital. One minute we had a newborn photographer, and the next minute the photographer was "non-essential." Formula shortages, supply chain issues, and a rampant, new, deadly virus made the stress of being a new mom an exponentially more formidable task to manage. I was able...