Graysen Vidmar
Professional Portfolio
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WBL Internship: 7th JD District Attorney's Office
WBL Internship: 7th JD District Attorney's Office
The Colorado Department of Education defines "Professional" using the following descriptors:
The Colorado Department of Education defines "Professional" using the following descriptors:
Time & work management
Career literacy
Grit and resilience
Work ethic; dependable and reliable
What Professionalism Means to Me:
What Professionalism Means to Me:
In my opinion, professionalism isn't a suit put on before work or a tie around your neck. It isn't treating co-workers with respect or being productive either, as important as those things are. Professionalism is an ethos for life on and off the clock that demands two questions be asked before every action: "Will this action present the best version of myself to the world?" and, "Will this action be a benefit to something larger than myself?" Suits, ties, and exceptional work in the office will inevitably follow.
Career Statement
Career Statement
I am a hardworking, ambitious, and competent young legal professional building toward a career in corporate law. I work actively, through opportunities such as my internship with the 7th JD DA, my captainship of the MHS Mock Trial team, my studies in classes like Street Law II at my high school, and others, not only to learn how to practice law, but to understand what it means to be an ethical, professionally excellent attorney. I believe that two of the most effective roads to this end are understanding the client and understanding the system. The former can be learned in books and classes, the latter can be learned only through hands-on experience. I seek to master both.
I live by the phrase, "shoot for the stars, and land on the moon." As such, I strive to amass sufficient rocket fuel to take me to the stars, regardless of where I'll realistically end up. Examples of this include my extracurricular involvements, academic achievements, and volunteer work, all of which can be viewed in greater detail in my resume (attached above). After graduating from Montrose High School, I hope to attend a highly competitive university, such as Columbia, University of Chicago, Oxford, or the United States Air Force Academy, where I hope to study business and finance as an undergraduate. After this I will pursue a juris doctorate from a law school of similar caliber, graduating as a highly qualified corporate attorney.
Goals Set and Soft Skills Developed
Goals Set and Soft Skills Developed
Goals:
Expand Understanding of Legal Principles
Prior to my internship with the 7th JD DA's office, my understanding of legal principles, from case law and its effects on the justice system to legislature and the separation of powers came only from literature, classes, and my experience in mock trial, and was therefore purely theoretical. While this foundation helped me to succeed during the internship experience, the experience itself added a critical dimension of practical application, bridging abstract principles to its effect on real everyday cases.
Become Familiar with Legal Processes
Initially, one of my least favorite parts of this internship was attending County Court docket days. Being sent to watch a lot of unrelated motions on a lot of unrelated, menial cases isn't exactly any high schooler's idea of how they'd like to spend two hours every Tuesday morning. But after my first three docket days, I began to notice small patterns in how attorneys filed small motions depending on the kind of case they were dealing with, and how the judge responded. Looking back, docket days were an excellent example of how the law is practiced from day-to-day, outside of the bigger, more exciting cases, and I feel they've given me a more well-rounded appreciation for the practice of law.
Build Functional Skill in Basic Legal Tasks
I was incredibly lucky, over the course of my internship, to be actively involved in legal tasks with real bearing on cases being handled by the DA's office during that time. From drafting case briefs, to engaging in legal research to identify precedent for multiple cases which went to trial, Ms. Cooling ensured that I wasn't simply learning about the justice system and the DA's place in it--I was playing an active part. I now feel confident in performing similar basic tasks in future internships and professional opportunities, and look forward to building upon them toward eventual professional competence as an attorney myself.
Soft Skills:
Adaptability
Delivery Under Pressure
Rhetorical Reasoning
Discretion
Ethical Judgement
Analytical Thinking
Strategic Awareness
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