Celebrating Veterans: ODEIB Features
Brandon Rush, 1L, grew up just outside of a military base and knew he was going to enlist from a young age. “I would watch the combat maneuvers and training all the time. I told my mom when I was three years old, I was going to be a soldier. And I told her that every year, until I signed my contract to join the army at 17.”
After his service to our country and finishing his degree, Rush decided to pursue a degree in law enforcement. “It seemed like a logical pathway going from the military to law enforcement,” he explained. “I was a part of a newly founded branch of law enforcement in Georgia at the time, called the Department of Community Supervision. We specifically dealt with people who were on probation and parole.”
It was during his time in law enforcement that Rush decided to pursue a law degree. “We wrote our own warrants, we couldn't sit and put it in a file and wait for somebody to get it signed. As a result, we saw judges quickly. We visited their chambers. Sometimes. they would see us there holding our warrants and they would call us up to the bench. That’s where the interest in being an attorney came from. “
Gregory Simmons, 2L, was the first in his family to join the military. “I read a statistic that said 80% of people that join the military do it because of family legacy. I wasn’t one of those people. I never had anybody in my family that served in the military, went to college or graduate school.”
Simmons says his military experience has helped him in his legal studies. “The military is a very regimented place and a place of initiative. And you must be self-motivated. That’s how it’s translated to my legal studies.”
He was inspired to pursue a law degree after working in law enforcement and saw the disproportionate number of minorities incarcerated versus non minorities. “The media talk about prison populations, but what isn’t talked about is the jail population—the people who are waiting trial that haven’t been convicted of anything and they can’t get out of jail. They need an advocate and that’s what motivated me to want to be in the legal profession.”