Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, March 2004 (Vol. 32, No. 7). All rights reserved.

SPOTLIGHT

Georgetown Student Brings Arts and Culture to Law School

by Elizabeth A. Syer

Irish playwright Sean O'Casey once said, "All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed." Amanda Shafer, a third-year student at Georgetown University Law Center, is not only rehearsed, she also is dressed, prepared, and ready to take on the courtroom.

First, Shafer is no stranger to performing in front of an audience. She began studying piano, viola, and ballet at a young age and came from a musical family. She says these activities have kept her balanced and focused her entire life, so it wasn't a tough transition to bring her artistic experiences to her law school community.

While dealing with law school's heavy workload, Shafer has been involved in several arts organizations. She performs in an a cappella group called Moral Hazard, directs and acts for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and dances in Evasive Maneuvers, a hip-hop dance group she helped found.

With the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Shafer is on the board as publicity director. She has served as lighting designer and performed in plays. Recently, she was chosen to direct the winter play.

Shafer also coordinated an arts showcase as part of an exhibit remembering Sept. 11 victims. While many of these activities take up a lot of time, she feels they force her to use the time she has well. She says she finds it "extremely gratifying to bring the arts to the law school community, who generally seem grateful to have their classmates or students performing for them, and are extremely supportive."

Shafer's skills aren't limited to the arts, however. During her first year at Georgetown, she won a school moot court event called the Beaudry Cup. Later, she was a member of a winning team that won the national round of the Mandred Lachs Space Law Moot Court competition. Finally, Shafer's moot court team came in second place at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany.

Shafer's appreciation of space law comes from two of her interests: international law and space exploration. "Space law is a field that is much more relevant than many people tend to imagine it could be," she says. Although she doesn't now see herself pursuing a career path in space law, Shafer says she's fascinated with the lawyers who work at NASA.

In addition to these activities, Shafer also has written feature stories for the Georgetown Law Weekly. She also likes to travel and has spent much time in North Africa, Spain, and other Mediterranean countries.

Shafer's goals go beyond the courtroom. In the long term, she'd like to pursue a career as a legal correspondent. "[I want to] help bridge the gap between what is actually going on in the law that is relevant to our society, and how the public perceives the legal world and what they know about the law," she says. "Unfortunately, this tends to be limited to high-profile, sensationalized, criminal cases that aren't relevant to our lives and our interaction with the legal system."

Through her involvement in the arts, moot court, and journalism, Shafer has affected the lives of her classmates and community. Her strategy? "Find things you care about and want to be involved in that aren't necessarily traditional law school activities," she says. "Use these to keep you centered and feeling like a part of the larger community as well as the law school community."

Elizabeth A. Syer is a third-year student at Pennsylvania State University School of Law.

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