By Darian Randolph
From Compass
Three graduating seniors are headed to law school together this fall, and all three started their Ohio University journeys in LINKS, a retention program for first-year multicultural students.
Alexis Apparicio, Jasmine Lambert and Jarman Smith, will attend Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law. The trio graduated from Ohio University on April 29.
In LINKS, successful upper-class students serve as peer mentors and act as role models, providing academic, personal and social support for new students transitioning from high school to college. They also promote the educational benefits of diversity and inclusion at Ohio University. LINKS is administered by Ohio University’s Office for Multicultural Student Access and Retention.
OMSAR Coordinator of Multicultural Retention Services Alison Moore believes that the LINKS program adequately helped the students prepare for this new chapter as they have all upheld the program’s key values – academic achievement, leadership and service.
“I would say those three pillars are things we try to ingrain into our students, and those students definitely embody achievement, leadership and service,” Moore said.
Alexis Apparicio
Apparicio, who majored in African American Studies, said the LINKS peer mentor program helped her learn how to become a leader on campus. She hopes to go into educational policy with her law degree.
“LINKS gave me the opportunity to grow and thrive – not only with the support of the staff, but other LINKS mentors had my back while I was making that transition [into college],” Apparicio said.
Jasmine Lambert
Lambert is a Templeton Scholar who double majored in strategic communication and Political Science. She said LINKS helped her make incredible lifelong friendships and develop skills necessary to succeed in the real world.
“Everyone in the OMSAR office was so kind and really wanted me to succeed both at Ohio University and beyond. They provided recommendation letters and references and all of the students that I met in LINKS are now going into the real world and pursuing careers. They will be people that I keep in touch with forever,” Lambert said.
With her law degree, Lambert hopes to practice child and family law in the criminal courts and later pursue a career as a judge.
Jarman Smith
Smith, who double majored in marketing and business pre-law, hopes to practice business law. He credits his undergraduate career and LINKS for helping him be prepared for the rigorous work that law school will bring.
“I think Ohio University gave me the skills that I’ll need to sit down and complete major assignments,” Smith said.
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