During high school, students make one of the biggest decisions of their life. They decide which career they intend to pursue. For most students this decision is difficult to make, but for junior and president of the Law club Flora Zhou, she has already taken measures to help students explore their passions in the field of law.
Although Zhou is sure that she wants to pursue law, she is unsure of which field to pursue because of how permanent this decision seems. However, she seems most interested in corporate law because of how familiar she is with this field.
“Once I get to college, I’m going to be able to look at a broader view of all of the different kinds of law I can go into,” Zhou said. “But as of right now, I think corporate law is pretty interesting.”
Zhou draws inspiration from people around her who work hard to accomplish their goals. She mentions how she looks up to those in leadership positions in extracurriculars she is part of. Her biggest inspiration for pursuing law is her father, who piqued her interest in this field because of his experiences.
“I also take a lot of inspiration from my parents who work really hard, especially my dad,” Zhou said. “My dad has had a lot of interesting law related battles.”
Zhou blends her passions for public speaking and interest for legal studies to participate in multiple public speaking and law related activities. She is a member of the speech and debate team, and takes time out of her week to coach middle school debaters as well. Her most prominent activity related to her passion for law is the Seven Lakes Law Club. Zhou is the president of the law club and talks about how and why she stepped into this role.
“Last year I had a very big vision of what the law club could become because we were a little bit smaller last year [in terms of] our goals.” Zhou said.
Zhou channels her interest for law into this club by providing fellow students with the opportunity for academic achievements and access to resources through the club. Zhou prefers this club because she has structured it to include research, volunteering and civic competitions, which build skills while also helping students add accomplishments to their resume.
“The law club is unique because it really offers a hands-on experience for a lot of the members, and those who are looking to pursue law, [like] me.” Zhou said.
Zhou’s goal when leading the club was to set it apart from common extracurriculars she sees often. She wanted to provide unique opportunities that benefit not just her, but everyone involved in the club. Therefore, she came up with the idea of submitting research papers to academic journals.
“A lot of the clubs focus more on local activities and I want the law club to be a space where people can pursue academic achievements, such as being able to publish their research in academic journals,” Zhou said. “[Last year], we never really got around to it. So I really wanted to have an environment where people had that opportunity [this year].”
Because of how many different resources the law club is in charge of providing for members, Zhou dedicates a lot of time and effort into ensuring things run smoothly. But it’s not just making slides for meeting and consolidating activities within the club; it’s also reaching out to professionals in the field and finding resources for members.
“It definitely takes a flexible schedule,” Zhou said. “There’s a lot of emails. Obviously, I have to respond to people that I’m working with.”
Ultimately, Zhou’s passions have led her to want to provide opportunities and help other students with similar interests. And in working towards that goal she has learnt something about all the people she looks up to.
“I really do want people to have shared learning experiences, and to have made new friends,” Zhou said. “[Working towards this] has really allowed me to also see the perspectives of other club leaders or officers around the school.”
