How time away from home led this student back to Maine’s only law school
Keiran Lorentzen, incoming 1L, is from Maine but has spent a lot of time away from home traveling and for his education. Like so many Mainers, however, he always finds himself pulled back home.
As a kid, Lorentzen lived for several years with his parents in Amsterdam, returning to Maine for high school. He also received his BA at Kenyon College in Ohio where he majored in music.
It was these long sojourns out of state and his inevitable return that helped Lorentzen perceive the effects of environmental degradation around the state.
“If I’d lived here my entire life, I’m not sure I would have noticed, the way you don’t always notice changes in someone you live with,” Lorentzen said. “I was able to observe the really drastic effects of climate change, like disappearing shorelines and the effect that has on ecosystems. One example is the mussel colonies, which I used to see all the time along the shore, are much harder to find now. I was able to see climate change in a tangible way.”
These changes concerned Lorentzen, and he spent the past year interning with Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection, a route that ultimately led him to Maine Law.
“I want to have a positive impact on the world and law school feels like the right tool to do what I want with my life,” Lorentzen explained. “Maine Law has a strong Environmental Law program. I’m especially interested in how studying coastal and Arctic law tie into another academic interest I have in international affairs.”
His interest in law school and the environment didn’t develop naturally out of his love for music but alongside it. Despite this, Lorentzen said, he thinks what makes him a good musician will support his career in law school.
“Music is really just a different language you have to learn and practice over and over again,” Lorentzen continued. “I’ve started to think of the law in a similar way although, I’d argue, the law has more functional use for my goals than my music, though I will always play and practice the flute. Legal knowledge allows you to effect substantial change.”
Lorentzen will always be a musician, he added, just one day he will be a lawyer as well. Coming into law school, Lorentzen doesn’t really know what to expect, but he feels his love of music, the outdoors, and running will all help to keep him balanced and his soul nurtured.
“Law school is a different type of intellectual challenge for me. I don’t think anyone goes in fully prepared but I am going in with an open-mind and a lot of passion.”