Michaela Dragalin
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Associate Attorney
Personal Information
School: Penn State University
Major: Economics
Years at College Works: 2009
Career Information
Company You Work For Now: Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Title: Associate Attorney
Industry: Legal
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities
Representing clients in their legal needs
What Has Been Your Proudest Accomplishment Post-CWP?
Landing my first legal job.
CWP Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CWP meant to you?
In addition to meeting some great friends who I still keep in contact with, CWP gave me invaluable leadership skills and showed me what my strengths and weaknesses were.
How did your CWP experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
I used my CWP experience in my law school applications and I'm sure that made me attractive to different schools. During the interview process, I talked about my experience with CWP with several firms. I was told on numerous occasions how rare it is to find a young law student who has strong leadership and management skills, and how important this is in the legal market.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CWP experience?
Sometimes you can't have everyone like you. Though being super friendly and amiable helped when dealing with clients, when you have people working for you, it's important to establish respect first, and friendship second.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CWP participants? Current CWP participants?
Set a goal and reach it. You'll be shocked how motivated you will be if you have a reachable yet manageable goal. Though I've done a lot since my time with CWP, I am still haunted by the fact that I was $8,000 away from my goal by the end of the year. Don't let yourself carry the same regret!
What's your favorite memory from CWP?
We went white-water rafting for a payroll. I'm not the most athletic girl in the world, so I thought I would hate it, but it turned out to be one of the funnest experiences of my life, and led to some great bonding!
Last words of wisdom
Keep pushing on. You'll look back on this experience and remember the amazing friends and memories you made, as well as your accomplishments. You won't remember that time it snowed when you were marketing as vividly.
