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    Photo Brandon Sisson

    November 30, 2016

    Living Deliberately and Learning Law

    Henry David Thoreau said he went to live in the woods because he “wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Brandon Sisson ‘14, has something very similar to say.

    “I went to law school,” he says, “because I wished to live deliberately... It’s a very different sort of ‘living deliberately,’ to be sure, but the essence of the statement is the same.”


    Sisson studies criminal law at Northeastern University School of Law as a third year law student. “As far as the type of crimes I would like prosecute, I am open to all roles, but ultimately, I’d like to work on white collar crimes. The economy is, by far, the most important factor in how much middle and lower class people can achieve.”


    “My favorite part of law school so far is that I feel like I’m finally gaining the tools to change from being an activist to an advocate,” says Sisson. Changing from an activist to an advocate has an important distinction—but one is not more important than the other. “An activist is someone who brings attention to a cause. Those are protestors, journalists, even commentators—bringing social justice to as many people as possible. Without them, a lot of injustice would never be brought to light. An advocate’s role is to be the one in court representing a victim and executing the ideas of the activists.”


    Why be an advocate over an activist? “The law touches our lives every single day and I wanted to understand it and work with it and ‘front the essential facts’ that make our world what it is. So far, I’ve been able to do that, and I love it,” he says.  


    Loving this kind of work takes a lot of effort and determination, and also a broad understanding of social justice. “I think I chose this path because my perception of social justice involves helping people at their darkest moments and helping as many of them as possible,” says Sisson. “I think it’s clear that the social justice aspects of a Jesuit education present at Le Moyne have had a meaningful impact on me. Cura personalis, which means ‘caring for the whole person,’ is a phrase I keep with me in my back pocket all the time. It suggests that there is a connection to the world around us that reminds us not to be too much of any one thing.” Or, to quote another favorite author, Ralph Waldo Emerson: ‘I am nothing; I see all.’” A great motto, perhaps, for a great lawyer.


    Though his work is sometimes tedious and difficult, his Thoreauvian mantra keeps him going and law school days are hardly uneventful. “During my first year, I spent an inordinate amount of time reading and studying. I won’t divulge how much time because it’s so much that it’s embarrassing.” Being an English major at Le Moyne, Sisson was used to engaging with difficult texts, which he often enjoyed, and transferred some of his skills into his new setting. “I remember during one of my classes, Dr. Ryan was giving a little background on Nathaniel Hawthorne. When he decided to write, he spent six years in his attic learning how to do so. She ended with, ‘and that is grad school.’ It is very reminiscent of sitting in a lonesome attic, compulsively reading and writing.”


    As for “living deliberately,” Sisson makes it a point to take each day in stride and appreciating his opportunity. “I feel like I’m doing exactly what I’d hoped to be doing. I am in contact with a few professors from Le Moyne and when I’m in town, we make it a point to get together and catch up. I hold those relationships very highly. Without them, and consequently without Le Moyne College, I would not be where I am now. I still have a lot of training to do, but I know I’ll make a difference somehow. Some day.”

    Article by Arin Jackubowski '17. Arin is interning with the Offices of Communications and Advancement this semester. 

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