By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Law student Wynn Wasmer started his career trajectory with an undergrad degree in history from Alma College, west of his hometown of Saginaw.
"I always found it so interesting we could understand decisions made by humans living hundreds of years ago, understand their cultures, understand their ways of life, and even understand the mistakes we've made as a species," he says. "I've always had a fascination with the human condition, and just how we have developed into the societies and communities we are familiar with today."
Now in his 1L year at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Wasmer wants to use his legal education to make a difference.
"Over the past few years, it's never been more apparent to me that as a white man, I'm naturally afforded more opportunities than other people in society, and I think inequality is one of the core issues humanity faces today," he says. "I want to be part of a true effort to establish more equality and fairness in my community, and for me, obtaining a legal education is the best way to do that.
"My career goal is just to help people," Wasmer says. "I've been really fortunate in my life and there are millions of Americans that don't have a chance for the same opportunities I did."
Wasmer is the first person in his family to attend law school.
"But both of my parents are teachers so I was able to develop my love of learning from them," he says.
His favorite part about Detroit Mercy Law is the faculty.
"Though my professors are fantastic, it's not just them-Detroit Mercy Law has so many resources for students, it makes your first year of law school that much more manageable," he says. "The academic support alone is a great help, but the support for students' mental health is just as strong."
His main focus is civil rights and public interest law.
"But I'm really enjoying studying property law with professor (Julia) Belian right now, so who knows!" he says.
Wasmer is honored to be a Dean's Fellow at the school.
"Being a Fellow is an opportunity I didn't even know existed for me coming out of undergrad," he says. "It's a great honor to be able to represent Detroit Mercy Law and be considered in the same group as the other Fellows."
He is looking forward to getting hands-on experience after his first year of law school, and is especially interested in the Appellate Advocacy Clinic and the Juvenile Appellate Clinic.
Although he found remote studies to be manageable, coming from a small undergraduate institution where most of classes last year were in person, he didn't have as much experience with online learning as many of the other students.
Born and raised in Saginaw, and a cum laude alumnus of Heritage High School, Wasmer moved to downtown Detroit in order to feel a part of the community where he is studying law. He has given back by actively working with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to help raise money for advancing cures and treating the toughest cases of childhood cancers and illnesses.
In his free time, Wasmer enjoys playing golf.
"It has to be one of my favorite hobbies because you truly have to leave all your thoughts behind and just focus on playing the game," he says.
He also appreciates that playing as a defensive lineman in football at Alma College taught him many things-"But none more important than good old-fashioned hard work," he says.
"When I first got to school it was very clear to me that I was not the most athletically gifted or talented. It wasn't always easy, but I worked my way up to become an example for incoming players as to what you could achieve if you applied yourself.
"The good thing about hard work is that once you know how to do it, it can be practical to any field-studying the law included."
