Meet SJCL alumni Ryan Heller (JD '22), a UC Merced graduate with a Cognitive Science Degree who worked in politics and public affairs before deciding to attend law school. While he did not initially plan for a legal education, it was the encouragement of many friends in the legal profession that persuaded him to apply, and the rest, as they say, is history. Ryan joins our most recent graduating class of 2022. Learn more about Ryan, including the value of building relationships with students and faculty, balancing career and education, and advice on time management while working with an unconventional learning style, which might hopefully inspire a second look at law school.
Tell Us About Yourself and Your Journey to Law School.
I'm originally from Los Angeles, where I lived most of my life. I moved to the Central Valley in 2008 to attend UC Merced, and I didn't really know what to expect; at the time, I was interested in transferring to another UC campus. However, within a year of living in Merced (especially once I moved off campus right into the heart of downtown), I quickly fell in love with the community, the people, and the sense of place. I've always told outsiders that Valley communities like this are a perfect size: they're small enough that it's easy to get involved. Everybody's very welcoming but large enough that your positive impacts matter. So pretty early on, I decided that this was where I was going to be and where I was going to remain.
During my senior year at UC Merced, I met a guest lecturer who also worked for a State Senator. He was getting ready to run for the new State Assembly seat and needed someone to help out with various tasks - mainly long drives to Sacramento. I ended up working on fundraising, scheduling, speechwriting, and policy ideas.
Fast forward to 2012: Commencement was in May, we won the Primary Election in June, the General Election in November, and by December, I had a job in the Capitol, whether I liked it or not. I was up there for two years but ultimately realized that Merced was home base and decided to come back. Then I spent the ensuing period (2015 to present) working full-time as a District Representative handling various policy areas. I also ran a small public affairs practice focused on local issues, initiatives, and campaigns. My real passion turned out to be volunteer work. I've helped organize community organizations and neighborhood groups and taught them about effective advocacy and how to engage with their policymakers in a way that their voices would be heard - these were often people who traditionally were not always well-enfranchised in the political process. They had passion, but they needed sophistication.
A few years ago, I started to notice the clock ticking with regard to term limits for my boss and, more importantly, for what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Did I want to work for the next legislator? Did I want to follow the Assemblymember to his next office (whatever that may be), or do I want to put down roots a bit deeper and commit to something that I'm passionate about? Most of my very good friends and mentors happen to be attorneys, and they were brow-beating me for some time to take a serious look at law school. These are people who were well-read and well-educated, so I didn't know if I had the temperament, intellect, or, frankly, the attention span to do law school. Finally, the message penetrated when I got some great advice from then-District Attorney Larry D Morse, II. He said, "Look, here's what I want you to do. Even if you decide not to go to law school, take the LSAT and pick five schools that you want to go to in California, apply to all of them, see where you get in and then talk to me. That way you're not hung up on the 'what ifs'... you know exactly what options are available and you can go from there." I miss Larry every day, and there was a lot of other, more colorful advice, like "you can't just be a dilettante staffer your whole life." So that was that. I applied to San Joaquin College of Law, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, University of the Pacific McGeorge, and Golden Gate University and was accepted into all five. As I thought through my options, it became clear that priority one would be to remain in the Central Valley. Selfishly, because of my ability to continue to earn a living, but also, and much more importantly, because of my ability to continue to make an impact in the community and maintain the relationships that I care about. San Joaquin College of Law was the only option that was going to let me do that, and not just because of their geographic closeness, but because the program is so well designed to accommodate working professionals. The way they've structured the curriculum (three hours a night, four nights a week) is really the only timing that would work for somebody like me. And eventually, as I looked around my classes, I saw that it worked for a lot of other people in my shoes.
What's Your Best Advice for Students Going Into Their First Year of Law School?
The first year for me, like anyone, was a terrifying experience, and I was sure I was going to fail. We all know the famous first-day speech: "look to your left, look to your right, those people aren't going to be here next year." It's important to just accept that the first year of law school is going to be scary, and you don't feel like you fully grasp the law. As time goes on, you realize that nobody knows the law in its fullness; what you do learn is what law school actually is. In other words, how much of this is memorization, how much of this is critical thinking, how much of this is reading, how much of this is writing? How do you pull it all together and prepare your mind for the exam? It's different for everyone. I think once you understand the rhythms and the expectations and your own strategies, then law school actually becomes manageable – it certainly becomes less intimidating.
After that first year, it's all about stamina. Can I do this for another two (or three) years? What's important to realize is that the amount of time and energy that you have to invest doesn't really change, but you do learn to use it far more efficiently. The time commitment is still there, but the terror of it isn't, and understanding your boundaries and limitations can allow for you to bring back certain important commitments, whether they're family, civic, professional or just passions and hobbies. I think you start to find that time again once you make it through the first year - at least that was my experience, and I saw the same thing in my peer group.
What's the School Culture Like at San Joaquin College of Law?
I really want to stress that everybody in the school is basically in the same boat as you, no matter how challenging, interesting, or unique your situation may be. There's bound to be somebody who's in a substantially similar moment in their life as you. Starting law school at 28, I thought I was going to be the old guy, but I was in the average age group for the evening cohort. I met other people that had demanding jobs, and I even met other people that worked in politics. I met people with similar interests, challenges, and insecurities. Through that experience, two really important things happened. Number one, I made lifelong friends. There are friends who, frankly, didn't make it to the second year, and I still talk to them almost every day. The other thing is that it allows you to collaborate and share strategies, and most importantly, it allows you to turn to the other person and just go, "am I getting this?" Because everybody has that moment where they're not sure if they understand the material. They think they do, but they're not sure. And, of course, most people don't want to ask because it's intimidating or embarrassing, and the one thing NOBODY wants to do is ask the professor. You naturally just want to smile and say you get it because you don't want to feel stupid, but then you have your people to talk to - and they often struggle with the same concept. It's an opportunity to engage in real learning in a lower-pressure setting. I've had outlines shared with me, but I've never gleaned some amazing insight from them, and that's not what it's really about because I don't think that sort of collaboration is very effective. What does help is the conversation about the material. Your friends/colleagues may explain it differently or the exact same way the professor did, but it's just a different dynamic. You're a little more comfortable admitting the parts you didn't get, and you're not feeling rushed trying to discuss it with an entire classroom waiting on you, so they're really there to help you in those ways, which is crucial. I guarantee if I hadn't taken the leap to make a few friends and have those conversations, I probably would've flunked out at some point. So, in my opinion, it's the secret sauce - those intangibles offered by SJCL that are really unique because there are many important ways to relate to the rest of your cohort.
What Was Your Experience Like With the SJCL Faculty?
When it comes to the faculty, I don't think anybody looking at our school should have any reservations about the fact that we happen to have a lot of adjunct faculty. Frankly, there are certain adjunct faculty whom I think to know a hell of a lot more about the law than high-profile, full-time law professors; and that's just because of their experience. Our adjunct faculty will talk about that experience and the practical implications of the law, which will be tremendously useful. They explain things in a way that someone would want to know for the purpose of actually using it - they're very effective communicators. Our full-time faculty is amazing as well and provide very important mentorship, which is a critically important ingredient to a successful law school experience. The administration and Deans are incredibly accessible, and you can't find that at the larger institutions. In a way, that reminds me of why I went to UC Merced in the first place. My dad graduated from the Haas School at Cal, and when we talked about UC Merced, he said, "you should absolutely go there because you're going to get to know your professors better than I got to know my damn TAs." It was absolutely true, just as it is at San Joaquin College of Law. Not only that, but you have professors and others who are willing to give you opportunities to work at their firm or introduce you to someone else who works in the area of the law that interests you.
How Important is Time Management While You're in Law School and What Advice Do You Have for Incoming Students for Effective Time Management?
Time management isn't just important, and it's everything. It reminds me of my favorite quote (often attributed to Vince Lombardi): "Winning isn't everything, winning is the only thing." That's law school right there. Time management is the only thing and the best way to do time management (at least, at first) is to overdo it. Give yourself way more time than you need for everything. In the beginning, you're going to take up most of it, and about a semester in, the things that used to take you two or four hours will only take you about eight minutes. But don't rush it, you'll get faster when you get faster, not when you want to get faster. So make extra time for everything, and eventually, you'll find that you're getting things done a little more quickly, and then you can start adding the other stuff back into your schedule that you really care about.
How Important Are the Connections You Make While You're in Law School?
The connections are everything. From a personal standpoint, there's nothing like being in the trenches. Speak with somebody else through law school because those are the people you talk to for the rest of your life. From a professional standpoint, these are instructors. These are people that want to see all of us succeed, so they'll bend over backward to find opportunities for us. Also, virtually every prestigious firm in the region has a San Joaquin College of Law alumni working there. I was doing a short-term engagement for a Public Agency firm that I highly regarded, and I'd only found out about the opportunity through Joyce Morodomi. The principal there went to McGeorge with a friend of mine who's a state official, but his law partner is an SJCL grad. I really challenge you to find a really reputable law firm in the greater Fresno or Central Valley area that doesn't have anybody from SJCL working there.
What Was the Most Challenging Aspect of Law School?
Integrating law school into your life. You always feel like you're making accommodations, and you never just wake up and go, "today's another day I'm going to law school and I'm totally okay with it." But everything that's worth doing, you're often doing because you're sacrificing something else, right? And that's okay because people make sacrifices when they know it's worthwhile, they pay off, and they outweigh whatever it is that you're giving up. The hardest thing was finding out about the things and people that I missed because I was in class or reading, but I say that because you need to be okay with the idea that you're going to miss some stuff and you're going to miss some people. But when it's over, you'll be a lawyer, and those people and those events will still be there waiting for you - and not only will they understand why you had to miss some things, but they'll be so proud of you.
What Advice Do You Have for Maintaining a Healthy Law School, Work and Life Balance?
Well, the big secret is this: nobody knows. You're not going to get it right your first semester. Listen to yourself, trust yourself and figure out what works for you. Adapt. Change. Do it quickly. There is no universal approach because it's just an intensely personal experience. At the same time, you're going to gain a lot of insight from the people you befriend, both in your class and upper-level students - they have valuable perspectives. So I guess the best advice I could give is: ask somebody who reminds you of yourself. Ask somebody that you think is similar to you to tell you how they did it, and you'll almost certainly hear something that's relevant to you. Take, for instance, some people, whom I love, respect, and find brilliant: they're really into multi-colored highlighters, tabbed binders, and all this stuff. That doesn't do anything for me because I'm the kind of person where the information lives in my head or in a collection of very messy scraps of paper - but I know where every single one of them is. When it's time to give the closing argument in Moot Court or Civil Trial Practice, I start writing furiously on the back of a folder or a notepad, and it's completely illegible, but I know what it says. Everyone's different, but if somebody who does work that way thinks they can't figure out law school, they can talk to me - it's absolutely doable. Likewise, a hyper-organized person is going to get helpful, relatable advice about law school from another similar person.
What Advice Do You Have for Future Applicants Who are Interested in Going to Law School?
One piece of advice that I would give to everybody is to rely HEAVILY on your mentors and the people that you trust. Nobody will think of themselves as too great or too important to talk to you about this journey. I've harassed everyone from law clerks to judges asking how they do their jobs and how they made it through law school, and they've all given me very helpful advice. Frankly, 10 times out of 10, people will be grateful that you asked because it shows that you value their opinion. So whomever you think has the answer to this stuff, talk to them often and ask lots of questions. Don't just get like one piece of good advice and think that's going to sustain you for a year. Talk to the people you respect, the people you want to emulate, and bug them. Also, just be sure this is what you want to do. Be absolutely certain, because it's going to require a lot of you. But when you get it, there's nothing in the world that'll make you happier than knowing that you did it.
Want to learn more about San Joaquin College of Law, attend a virtual forum or set up an appointment to discuss your law school future? Contact our Assistant Director of Admissions, Francisco "Javier" Rosas, or our Director of Admissions, Diane Steel, today!