Top 5 Ways Christian Legal Society Has Benefitted Me

Starting law school without knowing anyone was an exciting but daunting event, however any fears I had were drastically changed after joining the Christian Legal Society (CLS) at Pepperdine Law. Below are my personal top five reasons why CLS has truly benefitted my law school experience thus far.

1. Friends - I arrived at school without knowing a soul and yet only a few months after starting classes I feel that I have made friends through CLS that I will have for a life time. Having fellow Christian classmates has been a true blessing and I am reassured that the members in CLS have my back when I need them. The CLS community has been so welcoming, comforting, and available to each other during the stresses of law school. I'm not sure what my first semester would have looked like without the people from CLS.
2. Networking and meeting professors - Each week CLS meets together to listen to a different professor speak on a topic. Since 1L's just started our first semester, we knew barely any Pepperdine professors or staff. It was so nice to meet and interact with the teachers outside of the classroom or even speak with them one-on-one for once. I have had the great pleasure of even becoming friends with some of my faculty mentors! Having so much of our staff at Pepperdine be regularly engaged in CLS has brought me so much joy and I love bumping into these professors around the law school.
3. Keeping my spiritual walk on track - In the midst of the chaos, CLS weekly brings back into focus the reason why I'm at law school. The speakers guide the group in reminding us what the Lord is teaching us through our law school experience and the speakers motivate us to keep turning to God when we feel overwhelmed. CLS constantly encourages and shapes the students into becoming good lawyers who can bring justice and glory to God's Kingdom through our work.
4. Singing - I used to sing on formal choir groups either for school or church and had been missing the opportunity to sing for years. After hearing a need to help on the worship team, I was given the opportunity to sing each week leading the group in worship which has brought me so much happiness!
5. Fun! - Looking back last semester I think of all the events or trips we did because of CLS and I almost forget just how fun it is to be part of the group! Not only did we go camping in Ojai, but a group of us also travelled all the way to Boston for the CLS Conference (picture below of us at the park by our hotel). From the game night in George Page's common room to the social time we spend together after CLS meetings at Professor Caron's house, it has been a blast getting to know everyone in CLS and seeing their faces each week!