Life at McGill is dynamic, rewarding, and full of surprises. For me, being involved with some of McGill’s many intersecting communities has created endless opportunities for innovation, positive change, and personal growth.
Studying law at McGill has provided me with an incredible platform to amplify the kind of work I want to do and the kind of change I want to make. For instance, the McGill community has been invaluable for the success of “Le Cercle Orange,” a project I launched in 2019 that supports people living with HIV without access to healthcare, by uniting discrete resources in one harmonized network.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) has provided valuable cost-free healthcare for our participants, and McGill’s Legal Information Clinic partnered with Le Cercle Orange in 2022 to support the project’s legal pillar. The MUHC Research Institute (RI-MUHC) has also helped develop the implementation science behind the project since its inception, helping us share the project’s unique model both nationally and internationally. Finally, as a Junior Researcher with the RI-MUHC, I have been able to collaborate with a world-class research team and co-publish papers on the role of community in HIV care.
Together, the work of these incredible partners – all part of McGill’s vibrant community – have been critical in shaping the success of Le Cercle Orange and supporting people living with HIV without access to healthcare, across Montreal and farther afield.
As a law student, engaging with the McGill community has provided so many opportunities to explore how the law intersects with other spheres – often in unexpected ways. For instance, my research work with law professor Peer Zumbansen on the “cancellation crisis” of 2020 uncovered a web of labour issues, wage theft, global fashion powers, all connected to the plight of garment producers around the world. For my second-year term paper, I was able to research the unique role that corporations play in the sex work industry. As an OutLaw Mentor, I have shared my perspective on being a queer law student pursuing transactional business law. And being involved with the launch of McGill’s Business Law Meter created so many fantastic opportunities to discuss and explore how the worlds of business and law intersect with contemporary social issues.
I see law as the intersection of my passions, experience, and potential. As I move forward and begin my professional legal career, my experiences at McGill have shown me how my work in the community can – and will continue to – enrich my work in business law, and vice versa.