Joshua Saunders (JD 07)

Tell me something special or interesting about your background before you went to law school?

When Josh moved to Berkeley, he got involved with East Bay Community Mediation. He worked as a volunteer mediator with them in the Oakland/Berkeley area, mediating primarily landlord/tenant and custody cases. One of his greatest moments was when a previous mediation client came up to him on the street long after their case and thanked him personally for all his work. Josh continues to mediate today.

Why did you decide to go to law school?

Josh wasn't sure what he wanted to do after graduating from college. He received his undergraduate degree in Peace and Conflict studies from UC Berkeley, which he feels didn't really give him a clear direction in life. After college, he started helping others with visual impairments to learn and use the adaptive technology that is key to Josh's education. For a while he thought about going into education but he also knew from his experiences volunteering that he was interested in community mediation and policy. In the end he decided to go to law school because attorneys have many options available to them in addition to practicing law.

Tell me something special or interesting about your law school experience.

Josh's experiences at GGU have been marked with a real sense of acceptance. He feels that everyone at GGU wants him to succeed and that his success is valued. He did not feel that this was the case during his undergraduate education. Another thing that has marked his law school experience happened as a result of an error. One semester his technology failed and he lost most of his notes. He had to drop some of his classes as a result. The unforeseen advantage to this is that it has given him extra semesters in which to take classes that he is interested in such as externships. Next semester he is hoping to extern with Judge James as Josh is also interested in criminal and family law.

What is your greatest source of motivation/support as you work towards your JD?

Josh's strongest source of support has been his family, but he gets his motivation from himself. He has always had a strong internal direction to succeed and become independent. Josh grew up in Stockton where there aren't many options for someone with visual impairments. When he moved to the Bar Area, he got involved with the Orientation Center for the Blind, where they teach visually impaired persons the basic life skills they need to be independent. Josh has also found that the Bay Area provides an infrastructure that didn't exist at home, for example, the extensive public transportation system.

What is your favorite thing you do when you are not at law school?

Josh loves to hang out at cafés and chat with friends about their life and the world at large. He feels that it gives him some balance to his life to keep up with events happening outside law school. It also keeps him grounded. Josh also loves to be outside. He has discovered a love for cross country skiing, white water rafting and camping. Aside from hanging out at cafés and communicating with the great outdoors, Josh is an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy, though he is surprised that he has time to read anything for pleasure.

If not at GGU, where can we find you?

When not at GGU you can find Josh at Central Perk Café or Starbucks, having coffee before hitting the books again.