After graduating from the University of Kansas in 2020, Alyssa Schmidt-Brookover (’25) chose to pursue law school following a period of self-reflection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her two years of experience
as a legal assistant at a small personal injury firm solidified her passion for the legal field. Although she applied to law schools nationwide, Schmidt-Bookover says, “DePaul felt right. I came for an Admitted Students Day, and everyone was so welcoming. I felt like I fit right in.”
Already interested in family law, Schmidt-Brookover became a Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Center Family Law Fellow during her 1L year. The fellowship deepened her understanding of the legal field by providing valuable exposure to various law firms, the Chicago court system, and opportunities to assist pro bono attorneys. She was particularly grateful for the fellowship’s summer scholarship, which enabled her to pursue her passion in family law without the burden of financial concerns. Reflecting on the experience, she shares, “I used the opportunity to extern with a domestic relations judge and without the funding, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
The summer following her 2L year, Schmidt-Brookover clerked with Beerman LLP, where she assisted family law attorneys with trial and mediation preparation. One of the most interesting things she worked on was getting an emergency order completed for a client over a single weekend. She described the experience as “exciting because it was so fast paced, but sad too. We had to get a parent out of the home due to an incident that occurred over the weekend, and the order needed to be filed first thing on Monday. It was gratifying knowing the client was safe and secure.”
A first-generation law student, Schmidt-Brookover decided to get into student government to “push myself out of my comfort zone.” Although she had not held many leadership roles before, she was elected as a Student Bar Association (SBA) senator and later became the SBA’s event director. Serving as event director deepened her appreciation for DePaul, as it provided opportunities to build relationships with faculty and students, gain insight into budgeting and understand the inner workings of the institution.
Schmidt-Brookover was pleasantly surprised by how naturally leadership came to her and credits the school for encouraging her to explore this aspect of herself. She ultimately decided to run for SBA president because, “I love DePaul. The faculty are great. The students make it worth it, and I think I can be a great communicator as the school faces changes both internally and externally over the next year [with a new dean and the presidential election].”
As SBA president, her main goal is to increase student engagement. She wants to highlight the myriad programs and networking events run by the various student organizations, as “they can be fun ways to enhance one’s personal and academic development.” She hopes to encourage more coordination between student organizations by hosting monthly meetings where organization leaders can discuss their upcoming programs, which will better enable them to provide more information and opportunities to the entire student body.
Schmidt-Brookover also seeks to ensure that all students know that they are part of a community. It’s important to her that all students know they are heard and are aware of every resource that’s available. This extends to one’s personal and mental health, too. She understands the stresses of law school but wants students to know “imposter syndrome is real, but it doesn’t need to define you. It’s really easy to lose oneself in comparison, but you have to prioritize yourself and what you need, because it’ll take over your life if you focus on what you’re not doing. You’re doing much better than you think you are.”