There is no question that my time at Osgoode was one of the most influential periods in my life. And no, that’s not because I found my passion aroused by the finer points of Civil Procedure (although, after practicing in medical malpractice, I do now).
The majority of my education was not in the classroom. I was fortunate to be selected for the Community & Legal Aid Services Programme (CLASP), which allowed me to develop my nascent advocacy skills, work with a diverse range of clients, and envelop myself in an amazing and inspiring community. I became involved in a provincially-funded initiative to improve law student mental health in Ontario in collaboration with Osgoode, and I was able to study and confront issues facing students, staff, faculty, and administration across the province. Meanwhile, my love of all things Osgoode led to extensive involvement with student government, culminating in being the President of the Osgoode Legal & Literary Society. In that role, I got to see and influence many aspects of how the school was run, and learned a variety of advocacy, management, and people skills. Before I graduated, a group of students and I, all grateful soon-to-be grads, knew we wanted to leave the school in even better shape than we found it, and we created the Osgoode@125 Fund to raise monies to create exit bursaries for students pursuing public interest careers.