Priorities included visiting five law schools and connecting with Furman alumni in the capital, but two seniors couldn\u2019t pass up the chance to squeeze in one more ultimate law experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t plan it. You can\u2019t book a spot,\u201d said Maya Russell, pre-law advisor in the Office of Pre-Professional Advising. The seats go to those willing to wait. When a hot issue is on the docket, people will line up for days, she added.<\/p>\n
Gunner Hedden \u201919 and Kevin Hills \u201919 set alarms for the middle of the night and stood on a sidewalk outside the court while sprinklers ran on dark federal lawns. They were 13th and 14th in line, and ultimately 30 members of the public were able to attend that day\u2019s hearings\u2014the first for which Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh was seated.<\/p>\n
![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/SupCourt.jpg\")
Kevin Hills \u201919 and Gunner Hedden \u201919 pulled an all-nighter waiting for seats in the next day’s Supreme Court hearings.<\/p><\/div>\n
Hills, who\u2019s hoping to make a career in politics, had the idea in the back of his mind when he signed up for the trip, but Hedden hadn\u2019t considered it. Once he did, there was no turning back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t we do this?\u201d Hedden said. \u201cThe more we talked about it, the more psyched we got.\u201d<\/p>\n
After hours waiting both outside and inside, Hills and Hedden finally were seated near the back of the chamber but still close enough to see facial expressions on the country\u2019s most influential judges.<\/p>\n
They were struck by the atmosphere. Electronics were forbidden, which you might expect, but so was resting your head in your hand. Those who did that were quietly invited to sit more attentively or step out of chambers.<\/p>\n
Security guards stood in every corner, and two others took turns walking through the room. There was nothing threatening about the tone, however, Hedden said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just like, \u2018Hey, this is how we do things here. Respect it,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
They watched the justices look at their phones, take notes or lean in to listen. Some interrupted often; others hardly spoke. Several joked with each other and sometimes with the lawyers as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt certainly felt more relatable than we usually see it,\u201d Hedden said. \u201cIt gave a more personable aspect to each of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hills was reminded of \u201chow well-crafted our federal government is \u2026 Watching that, it\u2019s a testimony that it\u2019s still true and strong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On even-numbered years, Furman organizes a pre-law<\/a> trip to Washington; on the odd, there\u2019s a Columbia trip to the South Carolina Supreme Court. And students can travel annually to Atlanta for the Law School Admissions Council forum, where they can meet law school representatives from across the country.<\/p>\n A seat that was worth the wait.<\/p><\/div>\n Russell said the visits help students narrow their focus as they prepare to apply, \u201ctrying to build in that comparison, which is so hard to do on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n Shannon Short \u201919, president of the Pre-Law Society<\/a>, interned in Washington in spring 2018. But visiting schools there this fall during the\u00a0Law Career Trek gave her a new perspective. Of the 10 applications she\u2019s submitting, two are going to Washington schools\u2014American University and George Washington.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t planning on applying to either of those before we went to D.C.,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This fall\u2019s trip also included an alumni mixer at The Washington Center<\/a>, a long-time Furman partner.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s comforting to talk with them because they can really look back at their experience and provide that advice,\u201d said Hills, who\u2019s planning a gap year before law school.<\/p>\n Russell said most students walk away from these trips with a better understanding of the type of school that would fit their interests as well as a better handle on their own priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to take out the debt for law school without knowing you\u2019re going to utilize it,\u201d she said. \u201cThese opportunities really help students solidify that law school is the next right step.\u201d<\/p>\n The Office of Pre-Professional Advising, the Malone Career Center<\/a> and the Alumni Office<\/a> all helped make the Law Career Trek\u00a0possible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe work in a much larger team to support our students and make sure they\u2019re prepared for whatever the next exciting step is,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n The experience helped Hedden to see his future in that light.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not intimidating anymore\u2014it\u2019s exciting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twenty Furman students visited the U.S. Supreme Court this fall\u2014but while 18 of them took a tour, the other two had seats in chambers for oral arguments before the court. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,26,63,32,75,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-administrative","category-career-services","category-politics-and-international-affairs","category-pre-law","category-top-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/USSCTicket2018.jpg\")