The Miami Law students from the Class of 2019 kicked off their first day of law school by rolling up their sleeves and giving back to the local community. More than 300 students participated in Miami Law's 17th Annual HOPE Day of Service on Thursday, August 11th.
Incoming 1Ls were joined by returning Miami Law students as they volunteered at 19 different sites across Miami-Dade County, including Virginia Key, Homestead, Hialeah and South Miami. Students performed a wide variety of community services ranging from walking dogs in animal shelters to painting gravestones, to leading recreational activities with seniors at a senior center, and many more activities.
The service day was organized by Miami Law’s HOPE Public Interest Resource Center. HOPE, founded in 1998, builds on topical and timely issues to create public service and pro bono opportunities for all law students.
2L and 3L volunteer site leaders led groups of incoming 1Ls as they got to know each other and the community where they will be studying for the next three years. Christina Robinson, a 2L Miami Scholar, said that she volunteered to serve as a site leader “because one of the most important things to me about Miami Law is that I feel a deep sense of community here. Fostering a sense of community starts for 1Ls with their first experiences on campus. I wanted to be a part of facilitating that process by welcoming students to campus as a proud ambassador for Miami Law!”
Stephanie Koether, a 3L, led the volunteer effort at Paws 4 You Rescue, a local animal shelter. Koether stated that “it was amazing to see the love the students had for the animals. They worked so hard cleaning, painting, and building, but they also realized the value of giving back, and it hopefully sparked their interests to continue to volunteer.”
After the service day had concluded, 1L Miami Scholar Thomas Voracek said, “I am very thankful for having the chance to work in the West Grove Cemetery. Doing such intimate work as tending grave sites and beautifying the cemetery, being entrusted by the community in such deeply personal matters, echoes exactly the reasons I want to become a lawyer and why I chose Miami Law.”
Blaine Remmick, a 2L Miami Scholar, and Chair of HOPE Day this year stated that “HOPE Day is fantastic because it reminds everyone that even though law school gets busy, there is always time to give back to your community. For one morning grades don't matter, and you see hundreds of people come together for the one purpose -- creating a better tomorrow. This annual event will be one of my fondest memories of law school when I reflect back on my legal education.”
