{"id":70235,"date":"2021-12-01T03:00:01","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T07:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=70235"},"modified":"2021-12-02T09:41:08","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T13:41:08","slug":"curiosity-leads-beijing-graduate-student-to-law-degree-at-utoledo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/12_01_2021\/curiosity-leads-beijing-graduate-student-to-law-degree-at-utoledo","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity Leads Beijing Graduate Student to Law Degree at UToledo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Successful students ask \u201cwhy?\u201d and \u201chow?\u201d They wonder.<\/p>\n

Lei Song\u2019s curiosity led her from her home in Beijing to the United States to attend graduate school. It led to her landing a job as an instructional designer and assistive technology specialist at the University of Toledo in 2016. She wondered what law school was like and decided to take some graduate law classes.<\/p>\n

\"Graduation<\/a>

CELEBRATING SUCCESS:<\/strong> UToledo recognizes the Class of 2021 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at\u00a0fall commencement<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI loved it so much I enrolled part time in the J.D. program,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Song is scheduled to graduate this month from Toledo Law. Her inquisitiveness and eagerness to learn made her a standout student.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Song stood out from the first classes she took,\u201d said Gregory Gilchrist, a UToledo law professor who taught Song\u2019s initial graduate classes and wrote her a letter of recommendation when she applied to Toledo Law. \u201cShe readily grasped the legal rules but never stopped there. She wanted to really understand the rules: \u2018Why are those the rules? How do the rules work in practice? Are the rules effective?\u2019 It was clear she would excel as a law student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Song said she has long been fascinated by the American education system. In her quest to better understand it, she earned a doctorate in student affairs in higher education in 2014 from Miami (Ohio) University.<\/p>\n

Her doctoral dissertation explored how Chinese students\u2019 self-concepts changed after attending school in the U.S. She said she loved hearing the students\u2019 stories, especially the stories of dedicated faculty who mentored them.<\/p>\n

Her doctoral work helped her understand how educational systems shape culture. Her UToledo law school experience helped her gain another perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to see the other side of American culture and how it\u2019s shaped by the law,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to have a fair, just system of law and a well-developed educational system. Both are important in creating a society\u2019s culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Song continued to work full time while taking two or three night classes each semester. Thanks to the support of her supervisor, Justin Ballard, director of learning technology, instructional design and faculty development, and judicious use of her vacation time, she was able to craft a flexible schedule that allowed her to finish her required externships.<\/p>\n

Her professors also were a great help to her as she navigated law school.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy advisor, Lesa Byrnes, was wonderful,\u201d Song said. \u201cLaw school isn\u2019t always smooth, and she listened and gave great advice. John Barrett was helpful in answering all my questions about academic writing. His feedback and edits helped me learn and improve my legal writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Song<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout her time at UToledo, Song never let an opportunity slip by to broaden her intellectual framework. She appreciated the variety of electives she was able to take in law school, studying everything from religious liberty to international law and public health law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved reading case law and how judges decide cases,\u201d she said. \u201cThe more I learned, the more I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She relished what each of her externships taught her. In the UToledo Office of Legal Affairs last summer, she was able to work with attorneys on a variety of legal work.<\/p>\n

\u201cLei was an asset to our team the moment she walked in the door,\u201d said Jessica Visser, UToledo associate general counsel.\u00a0 \u201cHer superior research skills and ability to dive into a project with no previous experience in a particular subject matter allowed our office to close out several ongoing projects. In addition to her great work ethic, Lei was professional and kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past fall, Song worked with low-income clients in the Toledo Tax Controversy Clinic. She got a taste of the hardships her clients face one day when she was on hold for 2 \u00bd hours with the IRS.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was eye-opening for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Studying law changed her thinking about how society works. Song said she wants to have a career in criminal or family law. She\u2019s seen the high caseloads of public defenders and wants to help where she\u2019s most needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do something that has a positive impact on more people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also wants to help educate her fellow Chinese citizens about America.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a cultural gap between America and China,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople need to understand each other better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Song \u2015 with her curiosity and knowledge of both worlds \u2015 wants to build that bridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

Lei Song is scheduled to graduate this month from Toledo Law. Her inquisitiveness and eagerness to learn made her a standout student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":837,"featured_media":70238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,69,30,1,71,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/837"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70235"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70260,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70235\/revisions\/70260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}