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As someone who had her future mapped out from a young age, Hannah Phillips ’24 CLAS participated in mock trial teams in middle school, high school and college to prepare for her goal of becoming a lawyer. “I want to make a difference,” she explains. “Not everyone has access to great lawyers, and I want to be someone who provides great representation to people who don’t typically get it.” She also knew part of her plan would be to double up on majors to make Humanities integral to her Villanova education. A Political Science and Humanities major with minors in Communication and Spanish, Phillips recalls, “I wanted to learn not only how to be successful in life but also what will make me a better human being.”

Phillips considers the preparation she received invaluable, especially as she enters the high-pressure environment of law school. Now at Boston College, for the first time living away from family and friends, she goes back to one text in particular, Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry, a novel that explores the importance of community. “As I try to figure out a balance between the demands of law school and the rest of my life, I’m realizing that those human connections are what’s going to sustain me through three stressful years.”

Another lesson Phillips has taken into this next phase is how she approaches conversation. “I leave preconceptions at the door and come to the table in an open and vulnerable manner,” she says. “I’ve discovered I learn the most when I’m willing to listen to understand, as opposed to waiting to speak my position.”