“I was only interested in newspaper journalism,” Kim Greuter, 32, a law student at the University of Dayton said about her goals as an undergraduate. “I had no thoughts of going to law school.”

Greuter, a 1996 alum, worked for the Associated Press for three years after graduating from UTC. It was her experience as a courtroom reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press that piqued her interest in law. “It was a learning experience for me, and I discovered that I really liked being in the courtroom,” she said.

Law schools often use the Socratic method, a teaching technique that forces students to be prepared to answer questions every day—starting day one. As daunting as that may sound to some, Stephanie Dawn, a May 2003 UTC graduate who attended law school at the University of Cincinnati, said it is all about finding a balance.

“It’s a balance just like everything else,” Dawn said. “I know people who studied all the time, and then I saw the exact opposite, too.”

Dawn originally had an interest in public relations. She interned with the Chattanooga Lookouts before deciding “last minute” to go to law school. “If you know that you want to go to law school, I would start doing the leg work now,” she said. This allows time to retake the LSAT if necessary and to explore several law school options.

Initially after finishing law school, Dawn worked for a firm. She This position was more competitive, she said, while the in-house work she currently does for Erlanger Hospital offers more stability. Typically law firms minimum hour requirement at law firms, she said, which can be difficult to fulfill if there is not enough work.