Recent Alumna Spotlight - Maria Castro-Reece, BSC '13

Year Graduated: 2013

 

School: School of Communication Studies

 

Major: Communication Studies and Political Science

 

 

I am currently pursuing a JD/MA dual degree at the University of Cincinnati. 

 

As a Summer Associate for Taft Stettinius & Hollister, I research and draft memorandums, briefs, outlines, forms, subpoenas and a variety of other legal documents under the supervision of experienced attorneys. In addition, I attend live events with attorneys, such as depositions and client presentations. I participate in various community events and network with local Cincinnati community members.

 

As an LLM Academic Success Leader for the University of Cincinnati, I work with students pursing their Master of Laws (LLM) degree. I prepare lesson plans and organize and implement structured study sessions with LLM students to assist them throughout the LLM program. 

 

I was interested in pursuing a degree in Communication Studies, and I knew that Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication was highly ranked and well respected.

 

I considered the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University. Originally, I was not attracted to Athens' rural location. However, after I visited Ohio University's campus and saw how beautiful it was, I appreciated the college town vibe much more than any other campus. 

 

I learned so many valuable skills through Scripps. During an Interpersonal Communication course, I was tasked with identifying a communication skill that I wanted to improve and then working on that skill by conducting a research study throughout the semester. I chose small talk. Throughout the semester, I initiated conversations with strangers and worked on building my confidence and lowering my anxiety related to engaging in small talk. By the end of the semester, I significantly improved this communication skill and learned how to transfer this experience on to other communication skills that I sought to improve. This has proven very valuable as a law student because networking is extremely important in the legal community. 

In addition, all my communication classes focsed on structuring papers in a way that provided clear and concise information to the reader. This was xtremely helpful during my first legal job because my supervising attorneys expected memos that provided them with clear and concise legal information.

 

My professors and classmates made the experience at Ohio University and in Scripps very memorable. I had many smaller classes, which gave me the opportunity to really get to know my professors and classmates. I felt supported, challenged and respected as a student in Scripps. We were given interesting assignments, and we had rich and engaging classroom discussions. 

In addition, being involved in campus organizations helped me to build additional skills and experience. 

 

I would attend Rhetorical Analysis & Criticism and I would take very detailed notes. At the time, it was not my favorite class because it was not the most exciting topic. However, in hindsight, this class was extremely relevant to the practice of law because it focused on using rhetorical approaches to strengthen writing skills.