During undergrad at Wayne State University, TJ Kulfan took a month-long study abroad trip to China, and is pictured (far right) at the Great Wall of China.
Detroit Mercy Law School student TJ Kulfan is pictured with his parents, Ted and Angela.
(Photos courtesy of TJ Kulfan)
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
TJ Kulfan originally set his sights on becoming a journalist, following in the footsteps of his father, sports writer Ted Kulfan, who has been covering the Detroit Red Wings for The Detroit News for almost 25 years.
"I wanted to be a journalist like him until I was a senior in high school," Kulfan says.
"I even wrote for my high school newspaper; I covered sports and other miscellaneous topics the editor would select for me."
Kulfan's mother Angela, a sales manager for AAA Living, previously was a senior sales director for the Detroit News Media Partnership for more than 25 years, and consequently, writing and journalism have always been around his upbringing.
"I was attracted to the idea of writing on big events and providing a voice to those that might not have the ability to speak on their own. However, I drifted away from that when I began my undergraduate studies and became far more attracted to the legal realm as I began to learn more about it," Kulfan says.
"Having the privilege to represent another in order to find them justice was a challenge I was always attracted to. I always wanted to work in a profession I could be proud of, and working as an advocate for another would achieve that."
When Kulfan was selecting an undergraduate program, Wayne State University was finalizing the plan to develop the Mike Ilitch School of Business campus in downtown Detroit.
"I saw that new investment as an exciting opportunity to learn from some of the area's best business minds right in the heart of Detroit," he says. "My undergraduate experience opened doors for me to work both in global corporations and local non-profits, and the lessons I was able to learn from each have been invaluable as I make the transition into my legal career."
In 2016, Kulfan took a study abroad trip to China for four weeks, divided into two main portions. First, the class traveled to Shanghai, Beijing, and Suzhou and toured a number of factory plants and offices, met with company officials, and learned about their overseas operations. They then attended a two-week Global Supply Chain course instructed by WSU professors at Wuhan University, with a mix of WSU and Wuhan University students.
"Without any doubt, the greatest highlight of the trip was collaborating with the students from Wuhan and learning about the culture of an undergraduate business student in China," he says.
Kulfan's first undergrad internship was in human resources-a field he had never intended to pursue professionally.
"When I first started, I thought it would be rather bland and unexciting," he says. "However, I was stunned at how many branches within an organization the HR department really does touch."
His two HR internships were vastly different. The Detroit Zoological Society experience in Royal Oak focused him towards employee relations and operations-based tasks, and a chance to see how the Zoo's HR team navigated certain business obstacles that exist solely for nonprofits.
At Bosch in Plymouth, where the HR team is viewed more as a partner in driving the business forward, he worked on projects that would improve employee retention, increase recruitment, or streamline communication between departments.
"Both of these opportunities helped me develop an array of skills involving project management, detail orientation, and the ability to communicate effectively with people of all backgrounds."
Kulfan then spent 11 months as an immigration coordinator at EPITEC in Southfield, an IT, engineering and professional staffing company providing contract, contract to hire, and direct hire talent across North America.
Now a 1L student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, where his particular interest is corporate law regulations and transactional practice, Kulfan is enjoying his law school experience.
"The Detroit Mercy Law community supports you in being the very best version of yourself," he says. "The professors provide you with so much knowledge and guidance that it makes the learning process fun and exciting in each lecture. My fellow classmates are so incredibly talented and friendly, which fosters an amazing environment for us to network and learn together."
Kulfan's career goal is to work in corporate law and assist with the legal regulation of industries that are still in their infancy stages and growing rapidly.
"The overall goal would be to work in a position that allows me to be involved in shaping legislation that can help protect people from of those industries that we still hardly know anything about, autonomous driving and legalized gaming are specific areas of interest for me," he says.
While the pandemic was a forced reset for Kulfan and his family, it did have an upside.
"It allowed to be more introspective and confirm law school was absolutely something I wanted to pursue," he says. "Online learning was something I had to learn to love because I do believe that the model is here to stay," he adds. "Personally, having prior experience working with this technology and being in situations where online collaboration was a necessity, the transition to online education was not as bad as I anticipated."
A native of Dearborn, where he still resides, Kulfan loves to play hockey and golf when taking a break from legal studies.
"My girlfriend and I also love to travel when time allows," he says.
As a fun involvement activity, he coached his cousin's youth basketball team between 2017-19.
"But, one of the most rewarding experiences I got from volunteering was working for a Habitat for Humanity outreach program in Detroit back in 2017," he says.
Kulfan is a big supporter of the Motor City and all it has to offer.
"This city is where I grew up, and it's always been fascinating to me how it's one of the most misunderstood places in the U.S. There is so much culture, spirit, and heart within this city that it's almost impossible to not have pride in coming from a place like this," he says.
"This city does force you to have to grind to succeed, and I think that's what I love most about it-Detroit teaches you to be tough, but that toughness is what propels you to be successful."
