For her first two years after Hamilton, Allie Goodman ’15 worked in New York City at the Urban Justice Center's Domestic Violence Project, an anti-poverty legal services nonprofit, where she learned much as an advocate and community organizer who specialized in financial literacy.
One of her most rewarding experiences, however, was as a volunteer with the Parole Preparation Project. She and a partner helped a person in prison who faced a sentence of 21 years to life prepare for his parole hearing: He was granted parole.
“This experience was the most positive and influential experience I had in New York and demonstrated the catastrophic effects of the law on peoples' lives and helped shape my understanding of what can be achieved through law,” Goodman explains. She’s now a student at Berkeley Law, considering a career in public defense. She’s also drawn to labor and housing law.
Her studies at Hamilton were foundational to her decision to attend law school.
“My undergraduate experience set me up for a lifetime of learning and curiosity by showing me that there is always more to know; as an American studies major, I was keenly aware that one could never learn about every experience or the reasons behind every cultural practice, and simultaneously aware of the beauty and importance of trying,” Goodman explains.
