Having grown up with a father in the military, incoming 1L Shiloh Donnell finds it challenging to say exactly where she’s from. Where she now calls home, however, is much easier to answer.
“I was born in Michigan but we moved around about every two years,” Donnell said. “I ended up in Maine by chance; what was meant to be a long-weekend visit has turned into seven years of residency. This feels like home, which is nice to say for the first time in my life.”
Donnell’s roots in the state will deepen this fall as she begins her legal education at Maine Law.
Law school has been on Donnell’s radar since her undergraduate years at Florida State University. At the time, she decided to put the idea on the back burner and pursue other interests including working in the mortgage industry and improving her German language skills.
After layoffs at her company during the COVID-19 pandemic, Donnell began to seriously consider her goals, and the idea of law school resurfaced. She decided to get some practical experience in the field and spent two years working as a legal assistant at the local firm Drummond Woodsum. She also kept her part time waitstaff position at Schulte & Herr, the Portland German food restaurant, because she valued the strong sense of community she found there.
During her two years as a legal assistant, Donnell’s desire to go to law school crystalized. She saw Maine Law as the best means for achieving entry into the field and delving into meaningful work.
“I knew Maine Law would offer me the shot at real experiential learning that I was seeking,” she explained. “Many of the attorneys at Drummond were Maine Law graduates, so I got to see up close the quality of lawyers that Maine Law produces, and I knew I wanted to have the same educational experience.”
Donnell enjoys connecting with her colleagues outside of the work day, whether it be a Sunday morning Zoom to bake sourdough together, or a 5k, 10k, or half-marathon race where attorneys and staff members alike lace up their shoes and hit the pavement side by side. She is excited about the student organizations at Maine Law and the opportunities to get involved.
Donnell, who received the Immigration Law Fellowship and will work with the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic, plans on jumping in with both feet, gaining the skills that will allow her to give back to the state of Maine, and learning how to defend displaced individuals that are looking for a safe place to call home.
