Changing Lives—One Dream at a Time

SUSAN KRINSKY

Associate Dean for Student Affairs

It is nearly time for LSAC’s 2016 Annual Meeting at beautiful Walt Disney World^® Resort. Every year, usually by February, we all start to look forward to this meeting—for the well-deserved opportunity to kick our feet back, for the chance to see each other and share the challenges and successes of the prior year with people who understand what we’re talking about, and, of course, for the opportunity to learn.

Law school admission has changed a lot over the years I’ve been a part of this profession, but two very important things have stayed the same—the supportive and collegial atmosphere created by the people who work in this field, and the opportunity to identify and work with some very promising students. Our presence at Disney World this year can’t help but make me think about making dreams come true and the almost magical moments when I’ve been able to do that... the applicant who sat in my office and told me how after his parents died, he cared—alone—for two much younger siblings from the time he was a high school student; he somehow made it through college himself, and was now applying to law school. That applicant became an assistant district attorney and later opened his own practice. He has told me more than once that I changed his life. There is the young man who is about to graduate from my current school. He trained for the priesthood before he applied to law school, and he spent many years working with the poor. He has been the kind of student to whom professors give their first-ever A+ grade, and he has not once wavered from his goal of becoming a public defender. And the mother of three who had always wanted to go to law school. Her LSAT score and undergraduate record weren’t confidence-inspiring, but she was. She had a hard time in law school, but she got through. Her passion was helping women and children who experienced domestic violence, and after graduation she worked for Legal Aid’s domestic violence division. What she really wanted to do was to ensure that there was at least one judge in her community who really understood family law, and she campaigned to create a special family docket in the court system. Years later, she was elected to fill that slot, a position she still holds. Maybe I helped to change her life, but she has changed hundreds of lives. And maybe that’s the real magic—it’s not so much the individual we bring to our school, but what that individual does after she graduates and goes into the world. What could be more rewarding?

By this time each year, we’re all pretty tired and maybe even a little (a lot?) cynical. So for those of you attending our annual meeting, I hope you will use the time spent at Disney World to remember why we do what we do, recharge your batteries, enjoy your friends, and indulge in a little magic. I am, as always, honored to be a part of this group.