One of the first things that I was told when I first came to Widener is that whether it be students, professors or other faculty, everyone wants you to succeed. At first, I didn’t buy it. I had this image in my head that law school was going to be this fight to death environment where everyone was fighting each other for the top spot and it was up to you and you alone to succeed. But what I started to realize as my first few weeks of 1L passed by, was that everyone really did want me to do well, specifically professors as well as a lot of students.
The reason why I came to realize this first came from the interactions that I constantly had with my professors. The one on one interaction you get with your professors at a small school is one of biggest benefits of a small school, and you truly get out of law school what you put into it. If I went to a professor with questions, every single one of them were receptive, helpful and willing to give me tips. But even on top of that, every professor for every class had an Academic Success Fellow, or ASF. An ASF is a student that took the class in the past and did very well so they are now tasked with helping other students in that very same class. Every week an ASF will hold office hours and a lot of them even sit in the classrooms during class time. The ASF program was what opened my eyes to the fact that other students at Widener do really want to see others succeed.
One of my favorite part of the ASF program is the relationships that students, especially 1Ls are given the opportunity to build with upperclassmen students. When I was a 1L, I used every opportunity taht I could to go to my ASFs and ask them questions. Most of the time I just needed something explained to me in a slightly different way and an ASF was always able to do this. But along with talking about subject matter and asking questions you are able to form relationships. Contracts was a daunting class to me when I was a 1L, so every single Monday morning I woke up and I went to my ASFs office hours and I learned about contracts and I also learned about my ASF. Now, over a year later, we talk almost every day and I am in her wedding. That alone was a testament to the relationships that can be built through the ASF program, and that is what inspired me to want to be an ASF.
Now a year later, even though Contracts was daunting to me, I am a Contracts ASF myself and I am sitting on the either side of the table. It is one of the most worthwhile jobs I have ever had because I get to work side by side with the Professor that helped me so much through my 1L year, but I also get to work closely with other students and build relationships of my own. All of this thanks to Widener’s focus on academic success and those who foster it!
Student Ambassadors 