JDP Reflections: 8 Lessons I Learned Through my Junior Deferral Program Experience

The Harvard Junior Deferral Program (JDP) can take you anywhere you can imagine (sometimes even places you haven’t imagined).

JDP provides time before law school to explore other opportunities, the world, and, most importantly, yourself.

Reflecting on my two-year deferral time, it is difficult to narrow down all of my experiences from spending time in Owensboro, Kentucky to Košice, Slovakia. While this list is not exhaustive, here are eight of the most important things I learned through JDP!

1) National Non-profit Governance

During the first year of my deferral, I continued my work with the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association (KYYMCA), an organization focused on developing servant leaders through various programs and conferences. I worked with this organization in a volunteer and staff capacity for over five years, during which I gained many skills associated with non-profit programming and operations. While many of these operational skills would be invaluable, one avenue that I knew I wanted to pursue after graduating from law school was non-profit governance.

Through my work and because of the time afforded me by JDP, I was able to get connected to the national Y-USA network and was selected to be a part of the National Youth Advisory Council. This council works directly with the National Board of Directors for the Y movement, allowing me the opportunity to observe national non-profit governing structures in action. More importantly, I am part of the first cohort of the National Youth Advisory Council, meaning that I am working with other youth leaders across the country to set up and define what the council does and how it operates. This opportunity has allowed me to gain direct experience shaping the future of a governing body of a national non-profit and has encouraged me to continue to pursue this professionally.

2) Building Community

Developing the skills necessary to build communities, both personally and professionally, has been a necessity during my JDP. One of the major goals of the conferences I developed during my time with the KYYMCA was to bring together students from across the state and create a community of changemakers. Living abroad can be incredibly isolating, so it is important to develop a community of people to support you. Both of these experiences allowed me to learn how to build community in different ways. Facilitating community for others requires a different skill set compared to creating one for yourself; Building on an already developed community can pose different challenges to starting one from scratch; and the differences in familiarity change many dynamics.

Developing these skills makes me confident in creating a community at Harvard Law School and prepares me for future jobs where these lessons will be useful professionally.

3) The magic of Horalky, Mila, and Slovak Cuisine

During the second year of my deferral, I served as a teacher at Gymnazium Poštová in Košice, Slovakia. During my first few days in the country, I heard many people speak about some of the highlights of the local cuisine. To the surprise of my students and colleagues, I loved attending the school canteen every day to see what was being served. From bryndzové halušky to vianočná kapustnica, I could not have enough of the local cuisine. After I declared a meal incomplete because it didn’t start with soup, my colleagues determined my “Slovak conversion” was complete!

One of the things that I learned early on during my tenure was that “wafer biscuits,” like Horalky and Mila, were prized candies held by Slovaks in the highest regard. Often, Slovak families living abroad will bring boxes of these delicacies along with them. I was skeptical that candies like these could warrant this drastic response, but after a year of having at least three a week (if not more), I couldn’t imagine returning to the United States without at least a month’s supply!

4) Rysy, the Tallest Mountain in Poland

On a less serious note, during my JDP, I learned a lot about the geography of Slovakia and the surrounding countries, specifically through hiking! I was heavily encouraged to take advantage of the amazing scenery present in Slovakia and tried to summit a new peak at least every other week if not more. I hiked mountains such as Rysy, Kráľova hoľa, and Kriváň to gentler slopes such as Slovensky Raj, Čachtice Castle, and Zádielska dolina. All along the way were incredible views, beautiful, untouched nature, and delicious food served at the chats!

5) Make Time for Personal Passions

One thing I learned within the first few months of my deferral period was how much I had ignored myself during my undergraduate experience. I had spent so much time working on school and extracurriculars that I had very little time set aside for myself. Being removed from any school environment for the first time, I could see exactly what this was doing. Feeling burnt out, weakening skills, and losing some passions were all symptoms of this lack of time and attention to my passions. While I don’t regret the decisions I made during my undergraduate studies that led to this, my time away from school has shown me the necessity to treat law school and my future profession differently.

During my time away from school, I was able to rediscover many of my previous passions and develop new ones. I adjusted my perspective on personal passions from something that I could do if I had extra time for it to something that I must make time for with the same importance as sleeping, eating, and other necessities. By doing this, I regained much of what I had lost from many years of focusing exclusively on school and success. I know that the attention necessary for law school will once again make this a difficult balancing act and that I will likely have to shelve a bit of what I was able to develop over the past two years. That being said, I feel confident that the experience I have gained will allow me to strike a necessary balance and not leave all of my passions at the door of law school.

6) Interest in International Law

Throughout my undergraduate experience and as I applied for the JDP, I knew I had a passion for international affairs and human rights. I was also interested in Constitutional law and domestic civil rights law, among other things. While I was certainly leaning towards pursuing international affairs in some fashion while at Harvard Law School, I didn’t entirely know if this would be the type of law that I was most interested in professionally or if I would just be interested in it as a passion.

The last thing I wanted to do during my two years leading up to law school was study the intricacies of law. Luckily, the JDP gave me time and alternative ways to explore my passions, analyze different aspects of law, and determine the fields that I wanted to pursue when the time came to choose.

One of the most helpful things provided by the JDP was the ability to step away from academia and analyze my passions through a practical lens.

While academic texts provide necessary information, they can’t typically capture the full practical implications. By working with on-the-ground non-profit organizations and following recent policy developments, I gained a more complete understanding. Additionally, my time in Slovakia gave me a better outlook on how the international legal network is interconnected and can make a real impact.

These two things have taught me many smaller lessons, but generally, they have also led me closer to pursuing international law as a passion and a profession. While this additional time hasn’t necessarily changed the path I will choose, it has certainly added additional clarity and resolve.

7) Harvard Law Opportunities

 Having more than two years to comb through all that Harvard Law has to offer is much better than having only a few months. I could take my time, develop my thoughts, and come up with further questions at my own pace. Additionally, one of the most useful resources I had access to was the J.D. Admissions team. They are a wealth of knowledge on all things HLS-related and were immediately accessible as soon as I had confirmed my spot. I could ask them any question I couldn’t easily find the answer to, and they were never shy about providing recommendations about Cambridge’s social life. Additionally, they would occasionally check in with the entire cohort with different opportunities and events that could help us learn more about HLS.

Virtual events for admitted students (accessible to all admitted students leading into matriculation) were also incredibly helpful but were not unique to those in JDP. While these events expanded my knowledge of HLS and the opportunities present, I often found myself already familiar with much of the information because of the wealth of knowledge I had acquired through my JDP experience. This familiarity illustrates to me the indispensable role that the JDP played in my preparation for HLS opportunities.

8) “Yes, but”

One piece of advice I have been given throughout my life is “just say yes” when presented with an opportunity. When someone gives this advice, they typically are trying to convince you not to let opportunities pass you by because of your doubts or fears. While in this regard, I wholeheartedly agree, the JDP has taught me a slightly altered version: “Yes, but.”

Sometimes, “just saying yes” to everything is not sustainable. You take on too many projects and become burnt out; there are not enough hours in the day to finish everything you’ve put your mind to; it is exhausting not to have time to rest in between summits; or certain opportunities just can’t overlap, among other issues. Eventually, you have to start saying no, scale back, or risk crashing. Alternatively, if you begin with the idea of “yes, but” you may be able to avoid some of these issues entirely. To me, this means still staying true to the mentality of “saying yes to everything” but allowing yourself to ask for certain alterations that permit you to enjoy or execute a certain experience. The most typical of these changes is asking for an alteration to the timeline. Instead of starting that new project this month, ask to begin next month. Other times, it can be slight alterations to the idea itself. Instead of traveling to Myjava for a weekend, maybe we could go somewhere more central and visit Slovensky Raj for a week.

Ultimately, this is the entire premise of the Junior Deferral Program:

You know you want to take advantage of the opportunity (Harvard Law School), but you know the opportunity will be better if you wait a few additional years. These extra years allow you to pursue other opportunities that may be impossible while in the throngs of law school and should prepare you for the experience.

Then, when you’re ready to begin, you can be sure that you are ready to immerse yourself in the experience fully. While I wasn’t necessarily thinking about “yes, but” when applying to the JDP, I’m glad I’ve learned that it is alright not to take every opportunity exactly as it comes. I’m still pursuing every offering, but I’m seeing if there are ways to make it perfect.

–Eli Cooper ’27