Via HLS Student Financial Services

Jake Howard did not follow what most would call a conventional path to the law. In many ways, that’s exactly what has made his story such an interesting one.

Originally from the Midwest, Jake now pursues public interest law in the heart of Mississippi. Though there was a time he would have never guessed he would end up here, now it seems difficult to imagine him in truly any other place. “I actually took the bar exam in Mississippi…even though I had no job prospects here,” shared Jake with a laugh on a recent phone call. “I remember it well, because I had moved from Cambridge to Montgomery right after school ended, I didn’t start my clerkship until August, and I didn’t have a car. I sold my car when I started law school. Turns out, they’re sort of important in Alabama. So I took the Greyhound from Montgomery to Jackson to take the bar exam. It’s only a four-hour drive, but it’s a twelve-hour Greyhound ride. I was just so excited, though.”

As a student at the University of Michigan, Jake had once been a Drama major before eventually switching to Philosophy. A few years, a cross-country move, and an Education master’s degree later, he found himself teaching Social Studies at a public high school south of Seattle.

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