[MUSIC PLAYING SLOVAK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA & ONDREJ
LENARD, "III.
ALLEGRO FROM BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO.
6 IN B FLAT MAJOR"]
JAIMIE K. MCFARLIN: The best memories from Harvard Law
School aren't derived from the common pains of LRW,
blue booking, and Westlaw.
Instead, in our time at HLS, we've
been united in tragedies, like the Boston Marathon bombings;
in injustices, like the lack of indictments in Ferguson
and Staten Island; and successes through our clinics, student
practice organizations, and summer experiences;
and survival through the treacherous Boston
winters and the annual schedule snowstorms;
and in fun, like trying to remember what actually happened
at Tacky Prom, bar reviews, Progressive Formal, and all
those other crazy nights.
SUDIPTA DEVANATH: At HLS, we have
students who are in the military, founders
of nonprofits, doctors, artists, social activists,
and scientists all converging in one place.
NEIL MAKHIJA: What has inspired me over three years
here is seeing how our classmates have
moved from debating issues to coming up
with creative solutions.
Whether it's about climate change,
or the response to the financial crisis,
or racial and economic inequality;
we've had ideas and proposals and it
hasn't been because of one person's brilliant intellect.
It's because we brought people from around the country,
and around the world, here during these brief years.
And we've actually listened to each other.
ELENA SURAEVA: All of my classmates
are people of extraordinary will and dedication.
It doesn't matter where they come from
or what they do-- work in human rights organizations
in Uganda and Slovenia, in the public service in Korea
and Egypt, in transnational corporations and law
firms in Argentina, Germany, and Turkey,
render justice in Japan and Malaysia,
or teach law in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia--
all strive to hold onto the same values--
kindness, cooperation, mercy, and dignity-- working really
hard in more than 70 countries to achieve and secure freedom
and justice for other people.
SHINTA NUR FAUZIA: With 9,000 miles distance,
it took me approximately 27 hours
to get here by plane from my country, Indonesia.
Like a lot of international students
that came to study here, we were hopeful
that one day we will be able to bring the connection, networks,
knowledge, and experiences that we
obtain here to our countries.
EVELYN KACHAJE: As an international student
from a relatively small country in Southern Africa,
I have had the opportunity to learn
a lot from the vastly different environment here
at North America and at Harvard Law School.
I distinctly remember a few years ago at a TEDx conference,
the speaker on stage was sharing his experiences
working with nonprofits around the world.
He noted how dire the circumstances
can be in some countries.
And to my surprise, he mentions Malawi, my birth country.
He went on to describe how some children are
forced to use wrapped up plastic bags in lieu of soccer balls.
I had played with the same kind of makeshift balls
in my childhood and never thought twice about it.
Now, 15 years later, it was incredible to realize
that I had been privileged enough
to sit in a room with some of the most
exceptional and accomplished minds in the world.
It dawns on me that I have experienced
both ends of the spectrum.
SUDIPTA DEVANATH: I think I might have been the only person
in both FEDSOC and ACS.
And it wasn't just for the outlines.
For the past three years, I've also
worked as an editor on both the conservative
and the liberal policy journals, JLPP and HLPR, too.
A lot of people ask me why-- why I
was active in these seemingly diametrically opposed student
organizations.
And my answer is this, because I knew
that Harvard was the place where I would meet the most informed
and the most passionate peers on either side of the spectrum.
SHINTA NUR FAUZIA: The best thing
of being a student in here is I get
to meet people who inspire me every day-- people who
are ready to take off, to make a difference, people who
are prepared to find solutions to concrete legal and social
problems, both inside and outside class.
EVELYN KACHAJE: When Dean Minow said
she had searched the world to find the most brilliant minds
to comprise the Harvard Law School Class of 2015,
I didn't understand the magnitude of her statement.
But the people I have met here, the friends and colleagues,
the teachers and mentors that I will never forget
have all proven her right.
NATTHAPAT THAWIWANNABUN: I would say professors, LL.M. students,
LL.M. friends, I mean, S.J.D. friends-- J.D. friends,
and every faculty member.
Everyone here is like chosen to be here
and to make a vivid and energetic world together.
It is the human resource that I have found most amazing.
And it is this reason that made this school
different and outstanding.
AIZADA MARAT KYZY: I met so many talented, young, bright
professionals from around the world.
I've learned a lot.
Prosecutors, judges, government and corporate lawyers
provided me with insights of legal profession
in their world.
And we've discussed a lot of the current issues much broader
than law.
We've discussed how we can use law as a powerful tool
to make this world a better place to live in.
And I feel so inspired by all of them,
and thinking that my year could not have been any better.
I've enjoyed all the classes that I took.
Some of the professors became my life mentors,
willing to share their advices and wisdom.
And sitting here, I understand that we developed
invisible but strong bonds across the cultures,
continents, religions.
NEIL MAKHIJA: Experience weighs more than logic.
And when I walk down the hallways here in Wasserstein,
I would see the faces of our professors' portraits,
and how they've changed over time, and how we've never
had a more inclusive law school.
And while there's still more work to be done,
we've never drawn from so much collective experience.
ELENA SURAEVA: Harvard Law School
gives each and every student an opportunity
to extend his or her knowledge of a particular subject,
and explore the horizons of unknown matters
with help and guidance of the outstanding professors.
The measurable wealth of their knowledge and undaunted
thoughtfulness constantly reminds us students
that there is still so much to do,
in order to make laws and policies better
in order to make a difference.
The professors encourage us to go forward
and refine ourselves, to revive the traditions and growth
dynamics.
The foster us to question, argue,
balance between contrasts, pierce through form
and go to substance.
Most importantly, they teach us to understand and respect
each other.
JAIMIE K. MCFARLIN: As we walk away from HLS,
let's continue to unite in our duties
as lawyers pursuing justice.
Hidden within the case books, outlines, and treatises,
there are real people with real problems and real issues.
There are real facts for real fact- finding.
There is real poverty, and real oppression,
and real degradation, and real racism, and real injustice.
Instead of just a reasonable man, be sure to pursue
and acknowledge the real man.
In your law firm, public interest organization,
government office, judicial clerkship, lobbying group,
investment bank, or insert some other white collar job,
make sure that you remember that you serve justice-- not law,
but justice.
MARY-JEAN NLEYA: My entire HLS experience has come
with a lot of lessons learned.
It has constantly been a reminder
that HLS is not simply training smart students who will merely
shy away in the face of fear and intimidation,
because smartness and silence due to fear and intimidation
is no contribution to society.
No, HLS is training smart students
to be bold contributors to society.
Therefore, in the face of conflict, injustice, ignorance,
and in the quest of attempting to find solutions
to the world's big problems, it is important that we
show up, be seen, and speak up.
For these are the contributions to society that are vital.
SUDIPTA DEVANATH: To see the bigger picture
where we as future lawyers, lawmakers, and leaders fit in,
and to be analytical and decisive
about the nuances of navigating the world,
and have the moxie to put big changes into place.
JAIMIE K. MCFARLIN: With this crazy expensive
and unbelievably prestigious Harvard Law School diploma,
we have the opportunity to become a group of lawyers,
a generation not known as lying scoundrels, but instead
becoming the impetus for the ultimate human progress.
NATTHAPAT THAWIWANNABUN: Harvard Law School
gave me not just the best education, but also
a vision-- a vision to believe in humans, in our capability,
and in our dream to change the world.
And as a Harvard alumni-- I mean,
coming soon-- I will bring it back with me to Thailand.
ELENA SURAEVA: We will never forget
this momentous experience.
We have become one big family here-- big hearted family
of Harvard Law School.
SHINTA NUR FAUZIA: HLS, with its dynamic and people,
enables us to inspire every day, to have
a life with values and merits that we
will always carry in our lives.
It is truly an honor to be a part of this community.
[MUSIC PLAYING SLOVAK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA & ONDREJ
LENARD, "III.
ALLEGRO FROM BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO.
6 IN B FLAT MAJOR"]