Amanda Korber, Class of ’09
Amanda’s time in Stony Brook’s English Honors Program greatly helped her develop the practical skills she uses today as a Supervising Attorney for The Legal Aid Society of the District of Colombia’s housing unit, where she spends most of her days researching and writing. Amanda especially values the opportunity the Honors Program provided to write her own original thesis: “What an amazing luxury to just read books and think about them and think about how to frame arguments and persuasive thoughts about them; it was really just so much fun.”
Could you describe what a typical day at your job is like? What is the best or most satisfying part of it?
Currently, I help and supervise new attorneys who represent tenants in eviction cases and tenant associations in rent increase cases. I’m coming up on ten years of being a lawyer, so it’s really nice to work with new lawyers and help them get started in the work and find their way through it. However, I still sometimes represent clients myself because, frankly, one of my favorite parts of my job is working directly with clients.
Did you know that that was the area that you wanted to go into after law school? Or was this always what you wanted to do?
When I graduated from Stony Brook, I did not know what I wanted to do. One summer, I interned at Children’s Law Center in New York City, a non-profit law firm that represents children in foster care, so I had a sense that I wanted to go into direct services as a lawyer. I just wasn’t totally sure if I wanted to be a lawyer until after I graduated. I played with a lot of ideas. All different paths work for people; I think that’s really important to remember.
How has your experience in the English Honors Program helped you in your current career? Do you have a specific experience from the Program that you’d like to share?
The Program helped me significantly develop my practical skills. So much of my day is researching, writing, trying to make persuasive arguments— whether it’s for court or for policy-making, so I greatly appreciate that. Working on my thesis was probably one of my favorite things I did at Stony Brook; like, what an amazing luxury to just read books and think about them and think about how to frame arguments and persuasive thoughts about them. It was one of the best things I did looking back at my academic career.
Is there any advice that you would give to current English majors at Stony Brook who are interested in a career like yours?
I really want to emphasize that I don’t think there is one right way to get anywhere, and that the best way to land somewhere good for you is to follow your own interests and things that you love. Working every day is hard— and it’s hard even when you have a job you love— so you really want to make sure you land not where you think you’re supposed to land but where you want to land.