Richard Frohlichstein ’18

Yale is just big enough that there's always somebody new working on something new that I have never heard about or thought about or learned about. But it's small enough that there are plenty of friendly faces in the hallway, no matter where I am. It's a really wonderful balance that has contributed to a strong sense of community but also a strong sense of purpose.

So many of our students here are working on world changing, country changing, community changing, life changing initiatives. And to have the chance to get to know them and constantly be inspired by them, but to do that in a place where there's always something new to learn and always someone new to meet, has been exactly what I was looking for in a law school.

The student organizations, in which I'm most involved, are the Yale Law Democrats and National Security Group as well as a journal, The Yale Journal on Regulation. In particular, I've enjoyed attending events with the National Security Group. And the great thing about NSG, as we call it here, is that they're able to bring in the current officials in some of the top national security roles, both from the United States government and also internationally.

And so it's great to go and hear these people speak about their jobs and how law fits into their daily lives. But, we also happen to have a myriad of experiences at Yale Law School. People who go here, many of them have actually worked in national security roles before their time. And so the National Security Group also facilitates lunches, brown bag lunches, with current Yale Law students to talk about their jobs in national security. And the chance to engage with fellow classmates about some of the things that I'm reading in the textbook has been very exciting.

My fellow students are some of the most thoughtful and compassionate people I've ever met. I think that could probably be said for most students at most law schools. But I think that the unique thing about Yale students, in particular, is their desire to continue the conversation after school.

Because law school at Yale and for Yale students, at least from what I've been able to tell, is not just about coming to get a three year education and a degree. It's about engaging with the questions of the law. And so my fellow students have provided ample opportunity to learn and to think about the law and what's going on in the classroom but to do that outside of the classroom.