Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Blog

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, speaking at a vigil one week after the horrific attacks on New Zealand Muslim worshippers, said, "According to Muslim faith, the Prophet Mohammed, Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam, said 'Believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain.'

When you finish law school and look back, what will you remember? Long hours of study, new friendships forged, and knowledge gained and shared are a few of the things most will recall. But for some graduates, law school was about more than learning the law, it was about becoming the law, absorbing the law from its roots, and seeing new doors open with unforeseen opportunities waiting beyond.

We were on the cusp of the new millennium. Y2K. Wired phones. Movies on tape. Dial-up modems. The digital age was just getting underway. At WMU-Cooley Law School, also underway was the notion of starting a law school study abroad program in the Pacific Rim and later in Toronto, Canada.

Students at WMU-Cooley Law School have the opportunity to expand their horizons through a variety of foreign study programs. 

What does it mean to fly to the other side of the world for study and adventure? Students participating in WMU-Cooley’s “down under” program are finding out.

I was walking to the bus one morning around 7:30 a.m., and could hear the birds, feel the breeze, and see the plants. I felt completely connected to my surroundings.

Students participating in the WMU-Cooley Study Abroad program in New Zealand contributed to a program for Kaumatua (Maori Elders) at the Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton (Kirikiriroa), New Zealand. In a day of meaningful cultural exchange, the students, along with faculty from WMU-Cooley, the University of Waikato Te Piringa Faculty of Law, and the McCaw Lewis law firm staff, were formally invited onto the marae by way of a formal powhiri.

Law students in WMU-Cooley's Down Under program not only get to learn the law in one of the coolest places on the planet, they also get to learn from the 'best of the best.' Like Professor William Lye, OAM, who was named 2017's Barrister of the Year during Lawyers Weekly Australia Law Awards ceremony this year, and also honored with the prestigious Excellence Award.

WMU-Cooley law student Charles Hickman found new meaning in the real estate adage, location, location, location. After spending his summer traveling, studying and experiencing the incredible cities of Toronto and Oxford, he had a lot to share about the experience.  "Toronto was absolutely amazing,"exclaimed Hickman. "As a global city, it really encompasses and captures the interests of professionals and students. Plus I got to spend three weeks at the lovely St. Michael's College, a location straight out of a novel." Hickman relished every moment.