From full-time mom to full-time law student, Leticia Guzman (Law ‘20) knows what it takes to be successful in law school and continues to channel that dedication as she prepares for the Bar. After graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute with a degree in Advertising, she realized her true passion was law. Find out how she navigated her last semester in law school through a worldwide pandemic, was honored as our Valedictorian when she graduated and how she overcame her own battle with COVID-19 while studying for the Bar.
From a young age, Fresno State grad and alumnae, Lanae Oviedo (Law ‘20), got to experience law school when her mom, Serita Rios (JD ‘06), attended SJCL. Fast forward to today and Lanae is a mom to her one-year-old son, and recently passed the Bar to add “lawyer” to her glowing resume. Learn more about Lanae’s story, including how her mom’s law school experience shaped hers, how she became a new mom while finishing law school during a worldwide pandemic and her advice on getting through the toughest days of law school.
The pandemic did not stop students from enrolling in San Joaquin College of Law for Fall 2020. Many students stated it fueled their desire even more. Our entering class for Fall 2020 opened with 81 new students. At the time of submitting applications it was unknown to applicants if they would be attending classes in person or if classes would run solely online. Thanks to SJCL’s IT department the law school quickly maneuvered to administering classes all through Zoom beginning in the Spring when the pandemic first hit. Incoming students who started in the Fall met their professors and classmates for the first time virtually at the law school’s first ever online orientation in August. Imagine starting law school without stepping foot on campus!
If you ask most of our students, navigating their way through the first few weeks of law school was probably a challenge. From trying to learn a new language of law to making new friends, the first few semesters of law school are known to be the toughest.
Veterans, attorneys, and current law students came together to discuss the compatibility of military experience and law school at the recent Veterans to Law School Forum presented by the Clovis Veterans Memorial District and San Joaquin College of Law.