Mike Waldo, '08
"I love the city of Detroit and its surrounding area, most of all because of the people who live here. When it came down to it, I just couldn't leave."
Hometown? Garden City, Michigan.
Current residence? Moved in February to begin training for the Army JAG program. I'll ultimately be working in Washington D.C.
Undergraduate institution? Year of graduation? University of Notre Dame, 2002.
Why you applied to Wayne Law? I love the city of Detroit and its surrounding area, most of all because of the people who live here. I placed my deposit at both Wayne and another prominent national university. When it came down to it, I just couldn't leave. I was able to speak with three lawyers and one judge (none of whom, coincidentally, attended Wayne Law) about my decision. Their unanimous consensus was that I should attend Wayne Law due to its excellent reputation in the state of Michigan.
What area of law you specialized in at Wayne Law? I took several criminal law and labor law courses, as well as Professor Benson's Race and the Law course and seminar.
What professors/classes were your favorites? There were so many great professors; it is hard to narrow it down to just a few. Professor Benson was absolutely inspiring. Her idealism permeated the classroom every day. She constantly reiterated the power that we as attorneys would soon have to positively impact our community. One point she made that really hit home for me is that lawyers have always been behind the scenes of every major social movement in our country. Professor Canfield was another favorite. He had such a wealth of experience, I felt very privileged to learn from him. In his seminar, he brought in several labor attorneys who were willing and eager to share their experiences with us. They all went out of their way to remind us how lucky we were to learn from him. From those discussions, I concluded that labor attorneys seem to have the most fun with their work. I could tell that they really loved their jobs. Professor Peters was great too!
Where you're working now? Since taking the bar exam in July, I worked on voter protection issues with the Michigan Election Coalition through November. (I worked there with two other Wayne Law graduates. Professor Benson also serves as an advisor to the MEC and was instrumental in our obtaining these positions). I have also been teaching an LSAT and ACT course with Kaplan. I begin training for my full-time legal position with the U.S. Army JAG in February, 2009. (They had to make sure I passed the bar exam before I could begin).
What your career goals are? Admittedly, I am not a very goal oriented person. I try to work hard on issues I believe in and seize opportunities as they arise. I know that I ultimately want to be back home in the Detroit area and work in the public interest. I would love to work either in criminal law, perhaps as a prosecutor or public defender, or as a union side labor attorney.
Anything unique or different about you? After graduating from Notre Dame, I came home to teach in the Detroit Public School system through the AmeriCorps program, Teach for America. I taught middle school English for three years. My desire to maintain a presence in the lives of my students strongly led to my attending Wayne Law. I started a baseball program at Cerveny Middle School, in the Think Detroit / Police Athletic League, and attending Wayne Law allowed me to continue coaching the team throughout law school. Although, I hate to say, after several successful seasons, we only won one game this past summer... and it was due to a forfeit!