Meera Popat, Class of 2008
Associate, McDermott, Will & Emery, Washington, D.C.
Undergraduate/post-graduate: Johns Hopkins (M.A., International Relations)
Hometown: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Meera Popat has always known she wanted a career with international scope. Although she grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she has relatives in London and has traveled through India as a member of a traditional dance troupe. At Johns Hopkins, she enrolled in an advanced international studies program, earning her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in five years. "I had the opportunity to intern with a Member of Parliament in London, and sit in on the high profile hearings regarding the reasons for going to war in Iraq," she recalls. During graduate school, she also interned with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Meera spent her 1L summer working in the London and New York offices of the British law firm Linklaters. During her 2L and 3L years, she chose classes that supported her career goal of working with international transactions. "Professor Brummer, who teaches Cross-Border Transactions, has actually done the things that he's teaching us, and he can give us the practitioner's viewpoint," she says. "Law school is very different from every other type of schooling -- you learn how to think logically and analytically and ask good questions. I had Professor Suzanna Sherry for Civil Procedure, and she really challenged us to think about what the court was doing in the cases we studied."
Meera chose Vanderbilt for its location as well as for its academic reputation. But her positive impression of the students and faculty confirmed her decision. "I applied to Vanderbilt because I wanted to experience a different part of the country for three years, but still go to a prestigious school that would allow me to go back to the Northeast," she says. "When I came for admitted students' day, the students and faculty seemed really happy here. The students came from all over the country, they were really a diverse group, and they were incredibly welcoming. I have yet to meet a professor who seems too busy to make time for you."
Serving as vice president of admissions for the Ambassadors, a student organization that supports Vanderbilt's Admissions program, Meera enjoyed her opportunity to extend Vanderbilt's hospitality to future students. "I got so much out of working with the Ambassadors," she says, "Their work is why I ended up at Vanderbilt. My 2L mentor, Heather Huggins, actually called to tell me I'd gotten into Vanderbilt, and she was always there to answer my questions."
