Valentina Sosa knew that she wanted to pursue a career in corporate law from the very beginning of her educational journey. The Colombian native earned a bachelor’s degree in law and a postgraduate degree in commercial law before launching her career as in-house legal counsel for Bancolombia in Medellín.

She eventually took a position as legal manager at a bank in Guatemala, where she worked on corporate governance, M&A, and cross-border transactions. It was her first time practicing law outside of Colombia, and it piqued her interest in learning more about other legal systems. She later took a position at a cement and energy conglomerate, working on corporate finance and capital markets transactions, which solidified her desire to attend an LL.M. program abroad.

“When I started working at the cement company, I realized that the company had business operations in the U.S., and most of the deals involved U.S. regulations and U.S. agreements,” she recalled. “I felt the need to complete an LL.M. program in order to improve in my practice. Even though it’s not required, I wanted to understand that the basics of some provisions of the contracts or some terms that are used, so I could be more prepared to undertake cross-border transactions.”

Valentina started researching LL.M. programs with corporate and business law tracks, and Vanderbilt immediately stood out to her because of its experienced faculty and small program size. She liked the fact that she’d be able to take classes with J.D. students.

Once she got to Vanderbilt, she found professors and students to be highly accessible. One highlight was her Mergers & Acquisitions course with Professor Randall S. Thomas, who encouraged international students to come by office hours for help with the highly technical course. She met with him several times.

“The legal knowledge that I have as a foreign lawyer sometimes doesn’t match with the U.S. legal system. And I really appreciate that faculty members are willing to have office hours with you and answer questions,” she said. “I got this personalized teaching experience with a professor that has so much experience in the field, and I feel lucky to have that opportunity.”

Reflecting on her time at Vanderbilt, Valentina says that she definitely chose the right LL.M. program for her needs, largely because she knew what she wanted upfront. “You need to have a clear perspective of what you want to do after you graduate, and balance that with your expectations. Because when you are looking for an LL.M. program, you have to consider many factors,” she said. “I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something for my career, and then I asked myself, ‘Okay, I can do that in many other places, but why Vanderbilt?’”

After graduation, Valentina plans to return to Colombia and work for a multinational corporation on cross-border transactions. She says that getting an LL.M. degree will open up more opportunities for her in corporate law firms at home.

Even though she’s not done with the program yet, Valentina already feels a sense of accomplishment from everything she’s already learned. “Doing this LL.M., for me, is so rewarding, because now everything makes sense,” she said. “I know what we are talking about in class from my past experience, but now I see it from the academic side.”