BYU Law student Shad Larson’s interest in religious freedom and his drive to make a positive impact led him to become an International Center for Law and Religion Studies student research fellow and participate in the summer externship program. He felt his first year of law school prepared him to successfully address the challenges he was presented in his externship in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Law School has taught me to think differently,” he said. “In my externship, I was presented with many different challenges, and I was able to figure them out because of this new way of thinking and approaching problems.”
Larson enjoyed working for the Johannesburg office of legal counsel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he was exposed to a variety of different issues, people, and areas of the law. He had served a mission in the area and was eager to revisit the city and people. In addition, his externship provided the opportunity to interact with others on a professional level and to shape the type of lawyer he wants to become.
“What I loved most about my externship were the people that I worked with in the office,” he said. “There were a variety of problems and concerns each day, some of them very serious, but the Area Legal Counsel was always kind and patient. This impacted me greatly, and I want to become just like him in how I work and confront problems in my career.”