Chinecherem (Stephanie) Enemuoh completed five years of undergraduate education to earn her bachelor’s in Law degree (LL.B) and then another year at the Nigerian Law School in order to earn her Barrister at Law degree (BL) to become a barrister of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She got a job as a legal/compliance officer at a global financial technology company before taking a role as a junior associate at a boutique business law firm.

After a couple years, Chinecherem decided that she would benefit from expanding her legal expertise in a global scale by getting her master’s of law degree abroad. “I realized, ‘okay, maybe I need a more global outlook on business law,’” she recalled. She began looking for LL.M. programs that could help her pursue a career in corporate law and discovered Vanderbilt’s exceptional Law and Business Track.

Once she arrived on campus, Chinecherem didn’t officially enroll in the business track, since she already knew that she wasn’t interested in taking accounting (which is a required course for that track). With only one academic year on campus, she wanted to fully maximize her course slate, opting for the general track to enjoy more freedom in her course selection. She prioritized courses that would provide a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. legal system and corporate law principles.

Her classes have included Mergers and Acquisitions with Professor Randall S. Thomas, Securities Regulation with Professor Yesha Yadav, Professional Responsibility with Professor Cara Suvall, Corporate and Business Entities with Professor Morgan Ricks, AI and Legal Practice with Professor Cat Moon, and Comparative Corporate Governance with Visiting Professor Dr. Umakanth Varottil. She has also taken foundational first year courses like Civil Procedure, Contracts, and Constitutional Law to deepen her understanding of the U.S legal doctrine.

“For the most part, I’ve been studying, because I find the [academics] and the class pattern a little bit different from what I’m used to,” she said. “You have to be on your toes at all times. But I have tried to explore a bit as well.”

Outside the classroom, Chinecherem serves as the LL.M. social justice representative. She’s also socialized a lot with her fellow LL.M. students, going out to dinner and attending Law school sessions and Vanderbilt sporting events. Beyond the law school, she also joined the Vanderbilt chapter of the National Black Law Students Association and the faith-based society I-FAM.

Looking ahead, Chinecherem plans to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) and sit for the bar in either New York or D.C. Then she’ll look for corporate law jobs in the United States, mostly like in transactional law or health law.

Reflecting on her time at Vanderbilt, Chinecherem says that it’s critical to strike a balance between staying open-minded while also knowing what you want, since the program itself is so short. “It’s 10 months, so you don’t really have time to give yourself excuses and be like, ‘Oh, let me take it slow,’” she said. “You have to be quick on your feet. You don’t have to figure everything out right away, but you also have to be ready to learn.”

“Have an open mind in all aspects, not just in your studies, not just in the people you meet, but in yourself,” she advised potential students. “People tell you the U.S. is a land of opportunities, but you don’t know how much it’s going to influence you until you get here.”