katie salter, legal studies major
Meet Katie Salter, One Legal Studies Major
When you support UIS’ Legal Studies program, you are supporting a distinctive program that serves very special, hardworking students. Katie Salter is one of those students.
An Unlikely Beginning
Katie first thought of becoming a lawyer as a young girl when she watched (of all things!) the movie Liar! Liar! staring Jim Carrey.
She held onto that interest through high school and, when she came to UIS, quickly chose Legal Studies as her major.
The program—interdisciplinary and challenging—was challenging, Katie says, but worth it: “I really had to work hard to get through some of my core legal studies classes.” But it all made sense in August when she began an internship.
When It All Makes Sense
The demands made sense this last August when she began an internship (called an Applied Study Term at UIS), required for all Legal Studies students, with Jack Davis of Davis Law Offices in Springfield, Illinois. In her internship, along with learning a lot of the law, professionalism, and personal discipline, Katie also contributed to a $2 million verdict related to asbestos.
Davis has nothing but praise for Katie—“She exemplifies what an intern should be”—and UIS’ Legal Studies program—“an intensive program, a real-
life preparation.”
So Much What UIS Offers…
As so many other students do at UIS, Katie credits her success in her studies and her internship to her close relationship with her professors. One such professor is Suzanne Borland, who helped arrange Katie’s internship with Davis Law. Speaking of Borland, Katie says:
- “She has been my program advisor and my AST (Applied Study Term) supervisor.
- She has really taught me what networking is all about.
- She has put me in contact with so many different people.
- She has always been willing to help me out with classes, talking to other professors, getting things done as far as graduation contracts and that whole headache, and even finding a job.
“All that has really built my confidence up so that I am willing to foster those professional relationships and to put energy into them. Without her help, I would have been a little bit more shy.”
Suzanne, who recently received an invitation to Katie’s wedding, recognizes how important this close relationship is for both students and professors. She says:
“At a larger university, professors may never make those connections with students. That’s what is great about UIS. As a professor, it’s very fulfilling, and for students, that relationship is invaluable. That’s what our students get at UIS.”