Essay winner doesn't waste any time: Cooley student took long and winding path to law school

By Jo Mathis Legal News Cheryl Perry had only one problem writing her award-winning essay for the Corporate Counsel Women of Color's "My Life as a Lawyer" competition. She had so much to say on the topic, she found it hard limiting it to 500 words. "Somebody like myself, an adult returning back to school, and an immigrant, I have so much to say!" said Perry, 43, who is vice-president of the Black Law Students Association at the Thomas M. Cooley's Auburn Hills campus. Perry learned about the scholarship in a Cooley newsletter and decided she could certainly use the $1,000 prize considering she has $100,000 in student loan debt that includes the cost of the master's degree she earned at Northeastern University in Boston. "I'm constantly looking for scholarships and other opportunities," she said. "If I can write an essay that helps me, why not?" Perry is a native of Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America. She graduated from high school in 1985 and was accepted to pursue a pre-law degree at the University of Guyana. But she declined because accepting the scholarship meant she would have to serve one year in the National Service, a branch of the military. Her father refused to let his 17-year-old daughter be stationed in rural areas for eight to 12 months when the only form of communication was mail. The family left Guyana 21 years ago when Perry's parents decided that the political situation there was intolerable. They lived in the British colony of Antigua for several years before moving on to the states in 1997. The entire family of nine became American citizens, and her parents and six siblings live in Michigan, Georgia, and New York. Perry said it's not so much that she chose to attend Cooley Law School. "Cooley chose me," she said. "Even though other schools were closer to home (in Georgia) and warmer, I chose Cooley because they were the first to accept me. I love Cooley, and don't regret it at all." She said she loves the school's open door policy and easy access to administrators and faculty who are so supportive of students. Northeastern was great, too, she said. But she didn't once meet the dean, much less feel free to walk into the dean's office for a chat, as she does at Cooley. One of her professors at Northeastern had been former Massachusetts governor and 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis who told her to follow her heart. And her heart is telling her to be involved in the drafting of legislation pertaining to domestic violence, a subject she's researched and is passionate about. Perry recently got a job clerking for Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Leo Bowman so she switched from morning classes to night and Saturday classes. "It's not easy going to school and learning a new job, but I'm up to the challenge," she said. Attending law school at this stage in her life was a wise move, she said. "If I had gone straight to college, I wouldn't have appreciated it that much," she said. "I have a different outlook now. I can't afford to waste time." Published: Thu, Nov 3, 2011

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