News Archive
Hall Center Offers Health Law Students #Randomcoffee
04/22/2019
A new initiative designed by the Hall Center for Law and Health at the IU McKinney School of Law assists health-law students in building a professional network and honing the skills they need to succeed.
#RandomCoffee was launched in 2019 with assistance from the Hall Center Mentor Board. Students are randomly paired with a health professional in the Indianapolis area who agrees to reach out and set up a short 20-30 minute coffee meeting. A new random pairing is generated approximately once each month.
“This initiative is intended to be an unintimidating way to meet various professionals, and to connect with local alumni and health law professionals. Students know this is not an interview, but an opportunity to broaden their legal network within the community,” said Britt L. Sutton, ’15, associate director of the Hall Center for Law and Health.
So far 30 IU McKinney students and 30 professionals have signed up for the program.
Elizabeth Walker, ’99, estimates that she’s had “thousands of cups of coffee,” both while mentoring and being mentored. Now as a strategy and transactions consultant, she is happy to share her time with students and young professionals seeking to learn from the experience of others.
After earning her undergraduate degree, Walker planned to become a doctor, but began exploring the idea of law school during a gap year before medical school.
“So many people helped me along the way. I was on pre-med path, but was just starting law school, and the gift that people gave me as a 21-year-old was their time,” Walker said. “It was inspiring. Everyone I talked with gave me a perspective I hadn’t thought of.”
“Twenty years later, I still think about some of those conversations,” Walker said.
Walker hopes that McKinney students use the opportunity to learn more about careers in health law, but also work on their interpersonal “soft” skills that can make all the difference in professional life.
“Conversations have been everything in my career success, and it is such a gift to be able to share that with others,” she said. “I look at it as being part of a big, extended village.”
Interested in learning more about #randomcoffee? Sign up here: http://bit.ly/randomcoffeesignup or contact Sutton at blsutton@iu.edu.
