Alicia Iwema, Class of 2022

1. 说说你自己吧.
I grew up in New Jersey, in a textbook blue-collar, Jersey-Italian family. I attended college in New York state, where I studied vocal performance, 语言学, 西班牙语, 法国, 以及跨文化研究. I moved to Texas in 2014 to pursue an MA in applied 语言学. 在达拉斯的时候, 我遇到了我现在的丈夫, 11个星期前, he 和 I welcomed our first two children into the world!

2. Why did you decide to come to SMU Law?
When I decided to apply to law school, I had no idea that SMU Law existed. I had strong ties to Dallas because I was really involved in my church community 和 was dating my now-husb和 和 唱歌 semi-professionally. 我不想离开, but I also wanted to attend a law school with a reputation for academic excellence in both transactional 和 litigation work. When I discovered that SMU Law would provide me with an excellent legal education while allowing me to stay near my community, I didn’t want to go anywhere else.

3. What has been your favorite class 和 why?
I absolutely loved taking Evidence with Prof. 希勒尔Bavli (although Principles of Antitrust with Prof. Paul Rogers 和 Advanced Contracts Drafting Workshop with Prof. Glen West are close runners-up). The course seemed to rest at the intersection of law, 语言学, 和心理学, 和 I found that fascinating; it was satisfying to participate in a course that simultaneously challenged both my intuitive side 和 my analytical side. 我也很感谢. 巴伐利的教学风格.

4. When you are not in school or studying, what do you do for fun?
I love spending quality time with my family 和 friends, 研读圣经, 唱歌, 旅行, 学习语言, 在海里玩耍.

5. What extracurricular activities have you enjoyed most 和 why? (ROTC, SBA, moot court, etc.)
I really enjoyed serving as a Lead Articles Editor on the SMU Law Review. The position exposed me to tons of interesting legal scholarship, 和 I enjoyed learning to distinguish well-crafted arguments from faulty arguments 和 effective writing from weak writing. I also liked thinking strategically about which articles our journal should accept.

6. How has law school challenged you most?
Law school has forced me to learn how to prioritize my time 和 effort. I’ve had to work to find the appropriate balance between career 和 family, 和 I’ve also had to learn to structure my time well when I’m working so that I’m giving the appropriate degree of attention to each task.

7. What has been your most memorable law school moment so far?
I’ll never forget the time I emailed one of my professors asking for advice 和 he called me on a Friday night, talked through the problem with me for about an hour, then put far more energy into solving it than I anticipated, even though he was extremely busy at the time.

8. What do you plan to do post-graduation?
I’ve accepted clerkships with Hon. Thomas Barber on the District Court for the Middle District of Florida 和 Hon. Cory Wilson on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. I’ve also accepted a position in Weil, Gotshal & 我是芒格斯达拉斯办公室的.

9. Have you had any important mentors during law school? 如果有，是谁??
I’ve benefited from exceptional mentorship throughout my time at SMU. I don’t know where I’d be right now without the encouragement 和 guidance I’ve received from professors like Paul Rogers, 朱莉·罗杰斯, 娜塔莉Nanasi, 杰弗里·卡恩, 希瑟Stobaugh, 和, 特别是, 希勒尔Bavli.

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 和 10 years?
This question is difficult to answer, because everything about my trajectory has surprised me so far—the classes I’ve liked, the clerkships I’ve been offered, the fact that I plan to work in a large firm. I imagine that in five years, I’ll be acquiring specialized expertise in bankruptcy, 上诉简报, 或者证据问题, 和 I’ll be starting to adopt leadership roles at my firm in Dallas. In ten years, I may be trying to make partner. I think I’d eventually like to be a judge, though.