College Freshmen, Looking Ahead

cbwalkup
Tue, 07 Feb 2017 16:59:38 +0000

WildestDream, understood. I’m going to work to keep my 4.0 for as long as possible, and I have started occasionally playing LSAT logic games.

HappyAlumnus, that makes sense. During my winter break I volunteered for 4 weeks with an environmental nonprofit, but I am currently applying to more policy research-oriented opportunities for this summer. In future summers I will definitely try to intern with a more legally focused organization. There do seem to be a number of organizations completely dedicated to environmental law, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Environmental Law Institute (ELI), to name some of the most prominent ones. Perhaps my view of exactly what they do is skewed, but I assumed many of those working in those organizations would consider themselves to be "environmental lawyers."I actually became interested one environmental law after looking through the “experts” database on the NRDC’s website and discovered that perhaps half of their employees were said to have a law degree. As I mentioned earlier, I am also interested in environmental policy, so I would be interested to hear if I might be more well suited for a policy career than a legal one based on my environmental focus.

PaveYourPath, haha, I understand. Like I said, I am an Environmental Studies major, and just because I plan to pursue a career in law doesn’t mean I am going to suddenly switch to a PoliSci major or anything. I really just hope to take my future knowledge of the environment and use it in a legal context to further conservation. I think I will join the Pre-Law society, mostly because they apparently host LSAT prep sessions, invite legal speakers, etc. that could be beneficial if I do choose to pursue a legal career, but thank you for the input.

Demosthenes49, could you explain more about the kind of work the environmental lawyers you know do? I am most interested in conservation, so what I hope to do in a future career would be about fighting for stricter land-use laws, protecting and expanding regulations like that established by the Endangered Species Act, etc. Are those unrealistic expectations for a career one environmental law?

Thanks again everyone!