Vermont Law and Graduate School Student "choosing Vermont" Essay Contest Winners

• Citation: Vol. 48 No. 4 Pg. 27
• Publication year: 2023
• Pages: 27
• topic: Civil Rights,Labor Law,Criminal Law

Vermont Law and Graduate School Student "Choosing Vermont" Essay Contest Winners Vol. 48 No. 4 Pg. 27 Vermont Bar Journal January 2023

In the summer and fall issues of the Vermont Bar Journal, we asked our fellow attorneys to tell us something about why they have chosen to live and work in Vermont. For this issue, we asked students from Vermont Law and Graduate School to chime in. We incentivized them, a little at least, with an essay contest. Students working toward a legal degree at our state's only law school were asked to send the Journal 500 to 750 words on why they decided to come to Vermont for their legal educations, and what their plans are, or maybe are not, for working in Vermont.

The winning essays are below. The winners will get a student membership in the VBA for the duration of their law school careers. For the spring issue, we will be back to asking working Vermont attorneys to share their stories. If you're interested in being included, send an email to kvelk@vt-bar.org. For now, thanks to VLGS students Emilie Winter and Patrick El Saddik for telling us why they chose Vermont.

Emilie Winter

If someone had told me pre-pandemic that I would attend law school and move to Vermont, I would not have believed them. I am a born and raised city kid, and prior to the pandemic, I was working in education. Although public service permeated most of my adult life, I, like many others, felt compelled to shift gears and pursue law following the murder of George Floyd and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020, I was living in Brooklyn, protesting on the streets, conducting mutual aid efforts, and learning about community organizing. Brooklyn's activist community exposed me to restorative justice, which gave us an innovative framework to address harm and repair interpersonal relationships...