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| Kahryn Rombach, 3L Undergrad: Hillsdale College Major: Politics & Spanish |
A. I was born and raised in Midland, Michigan—the land shaped like a hand!
Q. How did you spend your summer?
A. I spent a very invigorating summer with the Regulatory Affairs division at Consumers Energy, one of the two major electric utilities in the Lower Peninsula, and have been blessed to be able to continue working remotely for CE through my third year. My office acts as a liaison between the company and the regulator, the Michigan Public Service Commission, and the work is broad, dealing with current law, potential legislation, electric and gas tariffs, administrative rules and regulations, codes of conduct. The interplay is complex, but my team is fantastic and I love knowing that, at the end of the day, I'm serving my state by helping provide an essential commodity.
Q. What does becoming a lawyer mean to you?
A. Going rogue! I knew I wanted to go to law school in the seventh grade, so getting my bar card means the end of a long (fulfilling, but long) road. I can quite literally do anything now, and that's exhilarating.
Q. What do you wish you knew before you started law school?
A. I wish I'd realized that you can't be excellent at everything. I'm like most type A personalities in that I'll work really hard at everything all the time to avoid missing out on anything, but refusing to choose among options is still a choice, and, like all choices, has consequences.
Q. How is law school different from your college experience?
A. Well, we're all studying the same thing, which is good and bad. I miss the intellectual challenge of having to keep up with art and accounting majors alike, but it's nice to be able to share an experience as a school.
Q. What is your favorite class so far and why?
A. My favorite class to this point has been Professor Hernandez's Appellate Advocacy course. It was difficult and competitive and overwhelming, but he is an incredible teacher and the work was rewarding, particularly because I could see so much improvement in my own performance from one assignment to the next. His class was also the first time I really felt like a lawyer. And that was awesome.
Q. What kind of law do you hope to practice after graduation?
A. I had several internships in various areas of public policy and free market economics through college, so the ideal would be to get paid doing something that lets me combine both loves - policy and law. I plan to use my Spanish major to serve Michigan's Hispanic migrant worker population.
Q. How would you describe the group of your closest friends found here at Regent?
A. The word I'd use to describe my best friends is “real.” The people who stand by me here are frank and funny and down-to-earth and confident. They don't let the lawyer thing go to their heads—they're genuine, service-oriented individuals, and interesting ones at that. They cultivate a diverse range of pursuits and interests outside law school and manage to keep this crazy season of life in perspective.
Q. How do you prefer to study?
A. By myself. I'm too likely to inadvertently turn a study group into a party. If I lock myself in my room for long stretches, I can spread out, settle down and actually get work done.
Q. What is your favorite book of all time and why?
A. The Great Gatsby. It's a tragedy, and I think it gets a bad rap for that reason because when we turn to American novels, we want to read good things about our people. But the story is realistic and ultimately really satisfying. It's particularly challenging for our generation, I think, because it's the ultimate YOLO story. Fitzgerald weaves something simple from a really rich, intricate pattern, and confronts the reader with this breathtaking choice between getting lost in the rush of living fast and loose and free, and breaking with the expectations of society in order to pursue true happiness. Both choices involve passion and beauty, but Fitzgerald juxtaposes their outcomes in wrenching detail and really gets it right. And his prose? Extraordinary.
Q. What is your favorite Bible verse?
A. It changes all the time. Right now I'm into the book of Wisdom, particularly 7:15-16: “May God grant me to speak as he would wish and to conceive thoughts worthy of the gifts I have received, since he is both guide to wisdom and director of sages; for we are in his hand, yes, ourselves and our sayings, and all intellectual and all practical knowledge.” You know how some verses seem as though they were written just for you? These words are my prayer and my promise today.
Q. If you could meet with anyone alive or dead, who would it be and why?
A. The Pope! Francis is exactly the kind of father the Church needs right now, and I'm so excited about everything he's doing. Apparently he's taken to randomly phoning the people who write him, so I'm planning to send a card off to the Vatican to see if I can get a call.
Q. What kinds of extra-curricular activities are you involved with?
A. I serve as secretary for the Moot Court Board, and I also sing with the A Capellate Advocates, the law school's own fabulous vocal ensemble.
Q. If you had an entire weekend available, what would you do in the Hampton Roads area?
A. I'd start Saturday off with brunch at the Broken Egg Bistro with my girls, followed by a long bike ride from my house to Sandbridge and back. Saturday night, I'd grab friends and go dancing at the Granby Theatre in Norfolk. I'd have to be up early on Sunday to make it over to St. Matthew's Catholic Church for choir practice before mass—they have the best liturgy in the area. (Gregorian chant, anyone?) After that, coffee and donuts. And after that—beach!! No better way to top off a long weekend than hot pizza on the boardwalk at sunset.
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