The 1L Alumni Guide Program runs between June and January each year. It was launched in August 2020 by the Alumni Engagement Office. It was intended to be a temporary program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, which closed the Berkeley campus. New student orientation and in-person classes were canceled. Nearly 300 alumni volunteered to personally welcome entering 1L and transfer students to our community via Zoom or phone. An overwhelming number of alumni and student participants recommended that we continue this program once on-campus activities resumed.
A Berkeley Law alum gave us this feedback when we asked them why they participated: “I appreciated the privilege of getting to work with an incoming 1L and share my experiences with her. I got so much from my education at Berkeley Law, so being able to share with my student my experiences at school, as well as life since I graduated, has been rewarding to me and seemingly helpful to them. The fact that I graduated from law school before my student was born did not diminish either of our enthusiasm. Our friendship has already exceeded the required duration of my mentorship commitment, and I hope it continues throughout their legal career.”
A student told us about the program, “I cannot express how grateful I am for the opportunity to participate in the Alumni Guide program! My mentor has been nothing short of incredible. From advice on case briefing to journals to summer internships, she has been an invaluable resource as I navigate my 1L year. I feel so much more confident knowing that I have someone who I can trust and who is familiar with the Berkeley Law experience in my corner.”
Our objective for the program remains the same as during our inaugural year: to engage our alumni with the law school as you welcome our newest students to the Berkeley Law community and answer any questions or concerns they may have as they transition to law school. Our goal is that these students will appreciate the warmth and humanity that underpins the Berkeley Law alumni community. Almost 200 incoming 1L students take part in the program each year, and we look for a similar number of alumni to volunteer as Alumni Guides each summer.
Alumni Guides sign up in June and are matched with a student in July via the Berkeley Law Connect platform. Guides are asked to contact their students in late July to welcome them to the Berkeley Law community and to answer any questions they may have about transitioning to law school. Guides then check in with their student six weeks after classes begin to see how their student is adjusting to Berkeley Law and answer any additional questions they might have. Guides will have a final check in with their 1L mentee in January as their student starts their second semester at Berkeley Law.
If you would like to be involved with the 1L Alumni Guide program, please contact alumni@law.berkeley.edu