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Bonnie Capen
December 2009
The VLP is pleased
to announce that
Bonnie Capen has
been selected as
our
Outstanding Law
Student Volunteer
for
the month of
December
2009. Bonnie is a
second year law
student at the U
of A
and is currently
participating in the Guardianship Clinic this semester. Right
from the
beginning, Bonnie impressed VLP staff with her passion for helping
others. She
really seems to care about each and every client and would
spend extra time
putting the client at ease before their hearing. Bonnie also
demonstrated an
extremely high level of professional skill. She navigated the
courtroom like a
pro – prepared, confident and tenacious. Bonnie has been an
exemplary
volunteer and a real asset to the VLP.
Bonnie was born in
and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, but decided to head south to
the U of A for
college. She earned her B.A. in Philosophy – focusing her studies
on ancient and
religious philosophy – and fell in love with Tucson in the
meantime. Bonnie
also seems to love the professors at the law school as she
has deemed it
impossible to choose a favorite stating “I have been blessed with
many outstanding
professors.”
We asked Bonnie
what got her interested in volunteering with VLP. She said,
“I have worked as
a volunteer in several capacities in my community, and VLP
had wonderful
opportunities for me to apply my new skills as an advocate and
law student to
help those in need.”
She also says that the most important thing
she has
learned from volunteering is
“that
it is possible for law students, lawyers,
and other members
of the legal community to join together to make a difference.
The work that VLP
does is an inspiration and I am honored to be a part of it.”
Bonnie also feels that her experiences in law school and with the
VLP have
changed her view of the legal system. “I
have realized that the legal system
is more pervasive
then I had ever thought. It spans from human rights to
incorporating a
small business. That our society has designed a system to
help its members
resolve or accomplish so much has been enlightening to me.”
With her new view
of the legal system and her diploma in hand, Bonnie hopes
to one day
practice Elder Law. “My dream job is to be an elder law attorney,
specializing in
guardianships and conservatorships. I think that is a unique
and exciting area
of the law, and the field of elder law is what inspired me to
come to law
school.”
A self-proclaimed
“fanatical reader”, Bonnie does not actually own a television!
She spends time
playing hooky from her legal studies by reading non-legal
literature like
Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. She also
likes
to relax by
hiking, spending time with her family, eating at The Melting Pot,
and
hitting her
favorite vacation destination of Las Vegas, Nevada. “I like to
vacation
in Las Vegas, but
not for the obvious reasons. I am always impressed that such
a small area has
so much to do: shows, roller coasters, art museums. I have
never even had
time to gamble!”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
