Major(s): Neuroscience and Behavior, Science in Society
What is your current role? What was your journey in arriving there?
I am a rising third-year law student at Yale with an interest in health and disability law. My interest in the nexus of law and medicine began as a Neuroscience & Behavior and Science in Society double major at Wes, where – as a research assistant in the Schizophrenia Cognition Laboratory – I investigated the nexus of medicine, law, and society in constructing disorder. I have continued to build this research in law school as a research assistant for professors pursuing this scholarship, a member of the Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury, and a Student Fellow for the Solomon Center for Health Law & Policy.
What do you enjoy about your work? What do you struggle with?
Pursuing the nexus of law and medicine is challenging due to the limited engagement between scholarship in law and science studies, but it is nevertheless rewarding to apply my previous experience in the sciences to my legal education. Attending law school in the midst of great change in the legal understanding of rights has certainly been difficult – but it has also been motivating to ensure that vulnerable communities have the resources needed to resist unfavorable changes in law and policy.
How did your time at Wesleyan influence your career choice/journey?
I came to Wesleyan intending to pursue medicine and followed this intention for nearly the entirety of my academic career at Wes; it was not until my thesis – informed by coursework in the Science in Society Program – that I saw the relationship between psychiatry and law and realized that my academic interest was more aligned with legal scholarship.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about entering your industry?
Absolutely take time between Wesleyan and law school. Working before law school not only helped develop my interest in law but also made me a much more qualified candidate for summer internships.
Updated as of February 27, 2024
