December 7, 2023 • 16 mins
The goal of the Paralegal Studies Program is to train students in legal theory, analytical, communication and adaptation of skills. Paralegals shall not engage in the unauthorized practice of law as proscribed by the Official Code of Georgia, 15-19-51 and must work under the supervision and direction of an attorney in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:02):
And I'll tell you something. I have never been more
impressed with young people in my life.
S2 (00:07):
I'm currently interning at the Attorney General's office in Atlanta
as a paralegal intern. They just opened it up for
paralegal students, and so I'm actually one of the first
people that I've gotten to intern there.
S3 (00:18):
And I looked into it, ended up changing my major
and really fell in love with it and really enjoyed
it and the classes itself. So I did a complete 180,
but I'm really glad I did.
S4 (00:29):
98 seven Chat Tech, where 98.7% of our students earn
a career. On this episode, we'll be discussing one of
the newer programs at Chat Tech, the paralegal program. We'll
hear from current students and an instructor. So let's get
started and meet our first guest.
S1 (00:47):
All right, I'm Amy Davis, and I'm the lead instructor
for the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech.
S4 (00:52):
The paralegal program is relatively new. How has it evolved
over the past year?
S1 (00:57):
Oh, wow. It's incredibly strange thinking about where it was
last year versus where it is now, because I'd never
anticipated that it would grow as much as it has.
We have gotten to where we have three other instructors,
and we have a whole bunch of students, and they're
just plugging away. And I've got some that are going
(01:19):
to be graduating in the spring. And it's just been
incredible growth. And I especially love watching the students grow.
S4 (01:26):
Can you tell us about the program and what does
it teach students?
S1 (01:30):
So what we are teaching them is we're giving them
the basics that they would need to work in a
law office or in some kind of capacity, because there's
paralegals and like where there's in-house counsel for, say, a corporation.
So the paralegals can be found in a variety of
places that can function in other roles as well. They
can also function as union reps for like the teamster
(01:53):
unions and things like that. They have basically the same
kind of skills, but they just call them something different.
But basically we are taking them from square one, and
by the time they get to the end of the program,
they will have drafted many different types of documents. They
will have taken a multitude of different classes that are
(02:15):
going to touch on different areas of law. And hopefully,
you know, they're going to come out and be like,
I have a lot of experience from this. You know,
we're trying to offer them different opportunities, like we have
a legal studies club and we're doing a mock trial.
We actually have two mock trial competitions in this semester,
and that's something else they can add. And we're trying
(02:37):
to put together other things that they can participate in.
S4 (02:41):
Like what?
S1 (02:41):
For example, last year at the end of our first semester,
we did a pop up legal clinic with the Cobb
Bar Association and the Cobb Legal Aid. And, you know,
we helped at that clinic and we helped, like, do
documents and stuff like that that needed to be prepped
on the spot.
S4 (03:00):
Now that we know a little bit about the program,
let's hear what some of the students have to say.
S5 (03:05):
My name is Daniel Redman, and I am currently a
student at Chattahoochee Tech in the Paralegal Studies program. I'm
an older student, so I've been through this before. You know,
I have a bachelor's degree in business management, and it's
been over 20 plus years since I've last been in school.
(03:25):
And one of the reasons why I've decided to come
back to school is actually because of my 16 year
old son, who kind of encouraged me to get back
into school because he's actually interested in law, but he
feels like I've taught him a lot and encourage him.
So he was like, mom, why not? But I don't
want to do law. I don't want to actually be
(03:47):
a lawyer, I should say. So. That's kind of why
I'm here.
S4 (03:52):
Why did you choose the paralegal program?
S5 (03:55):
The reason I chose paralegal, like I said, in talking
to my son, I knew I didn't want to actually
go to law school, but the more that I thought
about him, like, okay, well, maybe I can go into
paralegal studies. And I found the program at Chattahoochee Tech.
And in doing so, the more I thought about it,
(04:17):
because my background is in accounts payable and I do
a lot with financial. So I kind of thought maybe
I want to go into tax law. And so that's
my goals. So that's what I'm working towards.
S3 (04:34):
I am Travis McCoy. I'm 19 years old. I am
one of the students in the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech.
I'm in my third semester.
S4 (04:44):
What's your story of why you enrolled in the paralegal program?
S3 (04:48):
So one of the main reasons I enrolled in Chat
Tech was because it was one of the biggest technical schools,
I guess, in the state, really. And I knew it
was really popular. And I had quite a few friends
that went to chat tech. And I initially did not
role in the paralegal program. I actually completed my prerequisites
for nursing school and actually started the nursing program. But
(05:09):
I realized it wasn't for me. And my aunt, who
actually is a paralegal, inspired me to look into that.
And I found out that Chattahoochee had a paralegal program,
and I looked into it. I ended up changing my
major and really fell in love with it and really
enjoyed it and the classes itself. So I did a
complete 180, but I'm really glad I did.
S4 (05:31):
We'll get back to Tenille and Travis in just a
few minutes. But here's another student.
S2 (05:35):
My name is Amelia Reese. I'm currently in the paralegal
Studies program and I am set to graduate this upcoming May.
S4 (05:43):
So why did you enroll at Chad Tech? Where you
always interested in the law?
S2 (05:48):
I wanted to look into going to law school, but
that is a big jump for me since I have
three little kids. So I wanted to see if I
would actually like law. And the Paralegal Studies program gives
you really in-depth classes that are similar to what it
would be like in law school. After I talked to
Amy and I did my first semester, she told me,
(06:11):
like with the amount that we read and all the
coursework that we do, that it would really prepare you
if you wanted to, to go to law school.
S4 (06:18):
And you have kids. So how has this program been
able to help you with that?
S2 (06:24):
So I do have three little kids, and I work
full time to the paralegal studies program. Almost all the
classes are online and the lectures are through zoom or WebEx.
And the meeting times are I feel like at pretty
decent times we do around like 6:00 to like 945
(06:44):
within that range. So it really makes it easy if
you work during the day to be able to attend
class and still be able to get a pretty decent
lecture and understand the material.
S6 (06:56):
My name is Katelyn Gross. I go to Chad Tech
in the paralegal program. I work at two different restaurants
as well as doing school. That's a little bit about me.
S4 (07:09):
What's the reason why you decided to enroll in the
paralegal program?
S6 (07:13):
Law has always interested me. I was going to going
to go for the criminal justice, but I didn't want
to be a police officer. I like the attorney, Chad, more,
and it's just really interesting. And you get to know
the law and know what you're able to do and
what not to do and stuff like that.
S4 (07:33):
How was your experience been so far, and what about
the instructors?
S7 (07:38):
The classes are really good.
S6 (07:40):
We do mainly online and you'll have like maybe 3
or 4 a week. There are discussion boards and they
give you like assignments. You have to make an argument
paper about a case that they give you, and they'll
help you if you have any questions. And you can
(08:00):
always like resubmit your answers. And then you have like
quizzes to do. And it's just really helpful. It's like
a really good learning curve. And at Chad Tech we
are very like lucky because other colleges don't do the
whole assignment stuff like we do other colleges do, like
(08:20):
a bunch of test over the chapters and that's about it.
So I feel very lucky to go to Chad Tech
and the paralegal program.
S4 (08:29):
Amy, we'll go back to you as an instructor. How
hands on are you with your teaching?
S1 (08:35):
My students are probably tell you that I give them, like,
the most examples I could ever give them. So I
try to make sure that whenever I'm going through and
I'm teaching them something, that I break it down into,
like little micro pieces. For example, we have rule statements
in the law which are our version of definitions. So
take something like say battery, for example, in tort law,
(08:58):
not in the criminal part, but it is, you know,
a harmful or offensive touch where somebody intended to have
this harmful or offensive touch and that the legal harm happened.
And it only has to be that somebody felt offended.
So I go through and I break it down bit
by bit. So we talk about what does it mean
to be a harmful or offensive touch. What does it
(09:21):
mean to have the intent to do it? What does
it mean that it happened? And then what does it
mean for the legal harm here? So I go through
and I give them examples of what it looks like
and what it doesn't look like. Can you give us an.
S4 (09:32):
Example of some of your teaching strategies.
S1 (09:34):
Oh yeah. For sure. Constitutional law. This term has been
really fun. And that's because basically the way we broke
it up is we're going through and we're getting to
kind of debate all of the individual amendments, and we're
getting to talk about, like, I give them the background
of it, I give them the origin and like, who
was involved in what part of it. And then we
(09:56):
go into talking about what it means. And then I
have some students who are, you know, staunch originalist, and
then I have some students who are like, no, no, no,
it has to be. It's living. And so we have these,
you know, debates back and forth. And I'll tell you something.
I have never been more impressed with young people in
my life. They have been so good. My dad used
(10:20):
to always tell me he was like, you don't talk
to people about religion, politics or money. And I would
tell my dad, I'd say, you just don't know how
to talk to people. And these students have been that
very thing. They have been the epitome of what people
should be like when they're talking about politics, because they
have these very opposing viewpoints and they're very respectful. It's
(10:42):
been amazing.
S4 (10:44):
Hearing what Amy just said. Neal, it sure sounds like
the instructors are setting you up to not fail.
S5 (10:49):
Exactly. Not build anything. And as long as you communicate
with them and you let them know what you're expecting
to get from the program, so far they have by
far exceeded my expectations. And like I said, because I'm
not a new student, I'm not new at this. I
(11:10):
kind of know what to expect. And going into it thinking, okay, well,
let's see how these professors are going to be because
I am an adult. But like I said, by far
exceeded all expectations with this program.
S4 (11:24):
You went back to school after 20 years. So what's
your mindset now that you're a little bit older?
S5 (11:29):
Definitely. Because like you said, I was able to go
into this and kind of already know what to research for.
So I would tell them, you can do it because
you do know, especially if you have already gone through
that process. I also knew what to look for as
far as like financial aid, how to look for that
(11:52):
financial aid. And then like I said, just if you
got that gut feeling like you should just do it,
act on it. And like I said, it took a
little bit of encouragement from my son for me to
go ahead and pursue it. But the more that I
taught him through and I'm thinking, yeah, you're right, I
do teach you a lot, and we have taught a lot,
(12:13):
so why not do it? And just the tidbit, he
thinks that when he becomes a lawyer, I'm going to
work for him.
S4 (12:20):
So back to you, Travis. What do you like most
about the program?
S3 (12:26):
For me personally, the flexibility, I think that, I mean, like,
I work a lot. So for someone like me that
doesn't have a ton of free time with the program
being offered fully online, that's a huge plus. And I
really like that. Professor Davis being the program director, it
makes it feel really tight knit and kind of adds
a personal touch because anytime I need something, she's always there.
(12:50):
And especially being the program director and overseeing everything going on,
you know, anytime I ask a question, she knows exactly
what I'm talking about. She knows exactly how to help,
and that's a huge plus.
S4 (13:01):
What would you say to somebody thinking about going into
the paralegal program?
S3 (13:05):
The biggest advice I would have to give you is
to stay on top of your assignments, because assignments are
going to come out weekly and every week you need
to start working on them on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. What
I try to do is I try to get my
knocked out in the first few days of the week.
That way if I do something wrong or I need
help with something, I can go ahead and ask the
professor or question. And I still have plenty of time
(13:25):
to actually get it done. There is a lot of assignments,
but there's a lot to learn, and I think the
biggest thing I would say is stay on top of
your work. You have to.
S4 (13:36):
Now that you're in the paralegal program, how has that
affected your TV watching?
S3 (13:40):
Oh, yeah, so I have I've started watching, um, I
never watched Legally Blonde before I started the program, so
I started watching that.
S8 (13:51):
Oh, look how cute. There's like a judge in everything
and jury people.
S3 (13:56):
I started watching suits. I watched that now. So, you know,
it has. It has affected that for sure.
S4 (14:03):
Amelia, I hear you currently have a really interesting internship.
I don't want to spoil it. So could you tell
us a little bit about it?
S2 (14:10):
So I'm currently interning at the Attorney General's office in
Atlanta as a paralegal intern for part of the program requirements.
And my goal for myself is to I would like
to work there or within another government agency as a paralegal.
S4 (14:26):
That sounds really cool.
S2 (14:27):
I think it is. They just opened it up for
paralegal students and. I'm actually one of the first people
that have gotten to intern there because of the program
at Chat Tech. The sector that I'm in is public
health and they go over a variety of interest. They
do felony murders, death row inmates. They get a lot
of correspondence from inmates that they have to deal with.
(14:51):
They deal with post. It's part of the Georgia State Patrol.
And it's really, really interesting to just see everything that
goes on within the office and what they handle.
S4 (15:02):
Caitlin, after you graduate, what would you like to use
your degree for?
S6 (15:06):
I would like to go into the criminal justice field
and work for an attorney who does criminal justice, like
criminal law. It's really interesting to me. It is pretty hard,
but hopefully I can do that and maybe go back
to school for law, becoming an attorney.
S4 (15:23):
And what would you say to somebody who wants to enroll? Absolutely.
S6 (15:27):
Go for it. There's nothing wrong with learning the law.
You're not going to put yourself at a disadvantage. You're
going to actually be like, more open to law jobs
than anything else, because you'll understand the law and how
to research and everything. And it just in the end,
it really does help. You're not going to disadvantage yourself
at all. So I recommend people doing it.
S4 (15:50):
All right. Instructor Amy, I'm going to give you the
last word. What should future students know about the paralegal program?
S1 (15:56):
I would say that we have a great group of professors.
We have an incredible group of students. They're all very
supportive of each other. We are online fully. We will
have classes sometimes on campus. It'll be the Marietta campus.
But the intent was to make it so that it
was fully online. For those who want that. And honestly,
(16:19):
like with social media, we're shifting in that direction where
everything is, you know, online. And I think that the
wealth of information and experience, particularly that the other three
professors bring that alone is absolutely amazing. They will feel
nothing but supportive, and I hope they do. I hope
(16:42):
they change their majors. I would be okay with stealing
all the students.
S4 (16:46):
Chat tech, the College of Real World Training and how
our communities are stronger and better thanks to the thousands
of chat tech graduates in our local workforce. For more
information about the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech, visit Chattahoochee
Tech edu. Thanks for listening to 98 seven Chattahoochee Tech,
where 98.7% of our students earn a career.
And I'll tell you something. I have never been more
impressed with young people in my life.
S2 (00:07):
I'm currently interning at the Attorney General's office in Atlanta
as a paralegal intern. They just opened it up for
paralegal students, and so I'm actually one of the first
people that I've gotten to intern there.
S3 (00:18):
And I looked into it, ended up changing my major
and really fell in love with it and really enjoyed
it and the classes itself. So I did a complete 180,
but I'm really glad I did.
S4 (00:29):
98 seven Chat Tech, where 98.7% of our students earn
a career. On this episode, we'll be discussing one of
the newer programs at Chat Tech, the paralegal program. We'll
hear from current students and an instructor. So let's get
started and meet our first guest.
S1 (00:47):
All right, I'm Amy Davis, and I'm the lead instructor
for the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech.
S4 (00:52):
The paralegal program is relatively new. How has it evolved
over the past year?
S1 (00:57):
Oh, wow. It's incredibly strange thinking about where it was
last year versus where it is now, because I'd never
anticipated that it would grow as much as it has.
We have gotten to where we have three other instructors,
and we have a whole bunch of students, and they're
just plugging away. And I've got some that are going
(01:19):
to be graduating in the spring. And it's just been
incredible growth. And I especially love watching the students grow.
S4 (01:26):
Can you tell us about the program and what does
it teach students?
S1 (01:30):
So what we are teaching them is we're giving them
the basics that they would need to work in a
law office or in some kind of capacity, because there's
paralegals and like where there's in-house counsel for, say, a corporation.
So the paralegals can be found in a variety of
places that can function in other roles as well. They
can also function as union reps for like the teamster
(01:53):
unions and things like that. They have basically the same
kind of skills, but they just call them something different.
But basically we are taking them from square one, and
by the time they get to the end of the program,
they will have drafted many different types of documents. They
will have taken a multitude of different classes that are
(02:15):
going to touch on different areas of law. And hopefully,
you know, they're going to come out and be like,
I have a lot of experience from this. You know,
we're trying to offer them different opportunities, like we have
a legal studies club and we're doing a mock trial.
We actually have two mock trial competitions in this semester,
and that's something else they can add. And we're trying
(02:37):
to put together other things that they can participate in.
S4 (02:41):
Like what?
S1 (02:41):
For example, last year at the end of our first semester,
we did a pop up legal clinic with the Cobb
Bar Association and the Cobb Legal Aid. And, you know,
we helped at that clinic and we helped, like, do
documents and stuff like that that needed to be prepped
on the spot.
S4 (03:00):
Now that we know a little bit about the program,
let's hear what some of the students have to say.
S5 (03:05):
My name is Daniel Redman, and I am currently a
student at Chattahoochee Tech in the Paralegal Studies program. I'm
an older student, so I've been through this before. You know,
I have a bachelor's degree in business management, and it's
been over 20 plus years since I've last been in school.
(03:25):
And one of the reasons why I've decided to come
back to school is actually because of my 16 year
old son, who kind of encouraged me to get back
into school because he's actually interested in law, but he
feels like I've taught him a lot and encourage him.
So he was like, mom, why not? But I don't
want to do law. I don't want to actually be
(03:47):
a lawyer, I should say. So. That's kind of why
I'm here.
S4 (03:52):
Why did you choose the paralegal program?
S5 (03:55):
The reason I chose paralegal, like I said, in talking
to my son, I knew I didn't want to actually
go to law school, but the more that I thought
about him, like, okay, well, maybe I can go into
paralegal studies. And I found the program at Chattahoochee Tech.
And in doing so, the more I thought about it,
(04:17):
because my background is in accounts payable and I do
a lot with financial. So I kind of thought maybe
I want to go into tax law. And so that's
my goals. So that's what I'm working towards.
S3 (04:34):
I am Travis McCoy. I'm 19 years old. I am
one of the students in the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech.
I'm in my third semester.
S4 (04:44):
What's your story of why you enrolled in the paralegal program?
S3 (04:48):
So one of the main reasons I enrolled in Chat
Tech was because it was one of the biggest technical schools,
I guess, in the state, really. And I knew it
was really popular. And I had quite a few friends
that went to chat tech. And I initially did not
role in the paralegal program. I actually completed my prerequisites
for nursing school and actually started the nursing program. But
(05:09):
I realized it wasn't for me. And my aunt, who
actually is a paralegal, inspired me to look into that.
And I found out that Chattahoochee had a paralegal program,
and I looked into it. I ended up changing my
major and really fell in love with it and really
enjoyed it and the classes itself. So I did a
complete 180, but I'm really glad I did.
S4 (05:31):
We'll get back to Tenille and Travis in just a
few minutes. But here's another student.
S2 (05:35):
My name is Amelia Reese. I'm currently in the paralegal
Studies program and I am set to graduate this upcoming May.
S4 (05:43):
So why did you enroll at Chad Tech? Where you
always interested in the law?
S2 (05:48):
I wanted to look into going to law school, but
that is a big jump for me since I have
three little kids. So I wanted to see if I
would actually like law. And the Paralegal Studies program gives
you really in-depth classes that are similar to what it
would be like in law school. After I talked to
Amy and I did my first semester, she told me,
(06:11):
like with the amount that we read and all the
coursework that we do, that it would really prepare you
if you wanted to, to go to law school.
S4 (06:18):
And you have kids. So how has this program been
able to help you with that?
S2 (06:24):
So I do have three little kids, and I work
full time to the paralegal studies program. Almost all the
classes are online and the lectures are through zoom or WebEx.
And the meeting times are I feel like at pretty
decent times we do around like 6:00 to like 945
(06:44):
within that range. So it really makes it easy if
you work during the day to be able to attend
class and still be able to get a pretty decent
lecture and understand the material.
S6 (06:56):
My name is Katelyn Gross. I go to Chad Tech
in the paralegal program. I work at two different restaurants
as well as doing school. That's a little bit about me.
S4 (07:09):
What's the reason why you decided to enroll in the
paralegal program?
S6 (07:13):
Law has always interested me. I was going to going
to go for the criminal justice, but I didn't want
to be a police officer. I like the attorney, Chad, more,
and it's just really interesting. And you get to know
the law and know what you're able to do and
what not to do and stuff like that.
S4 (07:33):
How was your experience been so far, and what about
the instructors?
S7 (07:38):
The classes are really good.
S6 (07:40):
We do mainly online and you'll have like maybe 3
or 4 a week. There are discussion boards and they
give you like assignments. You have to make an argument
paper about a case that they give you, and they'll
help you if you have any questions. And you can
(08:00):
always like resubmit your answers. And then you have like
quizzes to do. And it's just really helpful. It's like
a really good learning curve. And at Chad Tech we
are very like lucky because other colleges don't do the
whole assignment stuff like we do other colleges do, like
(08:20):
a bunch of test over the chapters and that's about it.
So I feel very lucky to go to Chad Tech
and the paralegal program.
S4 (08:29):
Amy, we'll go back to you as an instructor. How
hands on are you with your teaching?
S1 (08:35):
My students are probably tell you that I give them, like,
the most examples I could ever give them. So I
try to make sure that whenever I'm going through and
I'm teaching them something, that I break it down into,
like little micro pieces. For example, we have rule statements
in the law which are our version of definitions. So
take something like say battery, for example, in tort law,
(08:58):
not in the criminal part, but it is, you know,
a harmful or offensive touch where somebody intended to have
this harmful or offensive touch and that the legal harm happened.
And it only has to be that somebody felt offended.
So I go through and I break it down bit
by bit. So we talk about what does it mean
to be a harmful or offensive touch. What does it
(09:21):
mean to have the intent to do it? What does
it mean that it happened? And then what does it
mean for the legal harm here? So I go through
and I give them examples of what it looks like
and what it doesn't look like. Can you give us an.
S4 (09:32):
Example of some of your teaching strategies.
S1 (09:34):
Oh yeah. For sure. Constitutional law. This term has been
really fun. And that's because basically the way we broke
it up is we're going through and we're getting to
kind of debate all of the individual amendments, and we're
getting to talk about, like, I give them the background
of it, I give them the origin and like, who
was involved in what part of it. And then we
(09:56):
go into talking about what it means. And then I
have some students who are, you know, staunch originalist, and
then I have some students who are like, no, no, no,
it has to be. It's living. And so we have these,
you know, debates back and forth. And I'll tell you something.
I have never been more impressed with young people in
my life. They have been so good. My dad used
(10:20):
to always tell me he was like, you don't talk
to people about religion, politics or money. And I would
tell my dad, I'd say, you just don't know how
to talk to people. And these students have been that
very thing. They have been the epitome of what people
should be like when they're talking about politics, because they
have these very opposing viewpoints and they're very respectful. It's
(10:42):
been amazing.
S4 (10:44):
Hearing what Amy just said. Neal, it sure sounds like
the instructors are setting you up to not fail.
S5 (10:49):
Exactly. Not build anything. And as long as you communicate
with them and you let them know what you're expecting
to get from the program, so far they have by
far exceeded my expectations. And like I said, because I'm
not a new student, I'm not new at this. I
(11:10):
kind of know what to expect. And going into it thinking, okay, well,
let's see how these professors are going to be because
I am an adult. But like I said, by far
exceeded all expectations with this program.
S4 (11:24):
You went back to school after 20 years. So what's
your mindset now that you're a little bit older?
S5 (11:29):
Definitely. Because like you said, I was able to go
into this and kind of already know what to research for.
So I would tell them, you can do it because
you do know, especially if you have already gone through
that process. I also knew what to look for as
far as like financial aid, how to look for that
(11:52):
financial aid. And then like I said, just if you
got that gut feeling like you should just do it,
act on it. And like I said, it took a
little bit of encouragement from my son for me to
go ahead and pursue it. But the more that I
taught him through and I'm thinking, yeah, you're right, I
do teach you a lot, and we have taught a lot,
(12:13):
so why not do it? And just the tidbit, he
thinks that when he becomes a lawyer, I'm going to
work for him.
S4 (12:20):
So back to you, Travis. What do you like most
about the program?
S3 (12:26):
For me personally, the flexibility, I think that, I mean, like,
I work a lot. So for someone like me that
doesn't have a ton of free time with the program
being offered fully online, that's a huge plus. And I
really like that. Professor Davis being the program director, it
makes it feel really tight knit and kind of adds
a personal touch because anytime I need something, she's always there.
(12:50):
And especially being the program director and overseeing everything going on,
you know, anytime I ask a question, she knows exactly
what I'm talking about. She knows exactly how to help,
and that's a huge plus.
S4 (13:01):
What would you say to somebody thinking about going into
the paralegal program?
S3 (13:05):
The biggest advice I would have to give you is
to stay on top of your assignments, because assignments are
going to come out weekly and every week you need
to start working on them on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. What
I try to do is I try to get my
knocked out in the first few days of the week.
That way if I do something wrong or I need
help with something, I can go ahead and ask the
professor or question. And I still have plenty of time
(13:25):
to actually get it done. There is a lot of assignments,
but there's a lot to learn, and I think the
biggest thing I would say is stay on top of
your work. You have to.
S4 (13:36):
Now that you're in the paralegal program, how has that
affected your TV watching?
S3 (13:40):
Oh, yeah, so I have I've started watching, um, I
never watched Legally Blonde before I started the program, so
I started watching that.
S8 (13:51):
Oh, look how cute. There's like a judge in everything
and jury people.
S3 (13:56):
I started watching suits. I watched that now. So, you know,
it has. It has affected that for sure.
S4 (14:03):
Amelia, I hear you currently have a really interesting internship.
I don't want to spoil it. So could you tell
us a little bit about it?
S2 (14:10):
So I'm currently interning at the Attorney General's office in
Atlanta as a paralegal intern for part of the program requirements.
And my goal for myself is to I would like
to work there or within another government agency as a paralegal.
S4 (14:26):
That sounds really cool.
S2 (14:27):
I think it is. They just opened it up for
paralegal students and. I'm actually one of the first people
that have gotten to intern there because of the program
at Chat Tech. The sector that I'm in is public
health and they go over a variety of interest. They
do felony murders, death row inmates. They get a lot
of correspondence from inmates that they have to deal with.
(14:51):
They deal with post. It's part of the Georgia State Patrol.
And it's really, really interesting to just see everything that
goes on within the office and what they handle.
S4 (15:02):
Caitlin, after you graduate, what would you like to use
your degree for?
S6 (15:06):
I would like to go into the criminal justice field
and work for an attorney who does criminal justice, like
criminal law. It's really interesting to me. It is pretty hard,
but hopefully I can do that and maybe go back
to school for law, becoming an attorney.
S4 (15:23):
And what would you say to somebody who wants to enroll? Absolutely.
S6 (15:27):
Go for it. There's nothing wrong with learning the law.
You're not going to put yourself at a disadvantage. You're
going to actually be like, more open to law jobs
than anything else, because you'll understand the law and how
to research and everything. And it just in the end,
it really does help. You're not going to disadvantage yourself
at all. So I recommend people doing it.
S4 (15:50):
All right. Instructor Amy, I'm going to give you the
last word. What should future students know about the paralegal program?
S1 (15:56):
I would say that we have a great group of professors.
We have an incredible group of students. They're all very
supportive of each other. We are online fully. We will
have classes sometimes on campus. It'll be the Marietta campus.
But the intent was to make it so that it
was fully online. For those who want that. And honestly,
(16:19):
like with social media, we're shifting in that direction where
everything is, you know, online. And I think that the
wealth of information and experience, particularly that the other three
professors bring that alone is absolutely amazing. They will feel
nothing but supportive, and I hope they do. I hope
(16:42):
they change their majors. I would be okay with stealing
all the students.
S4 (16:46):
Chat tech, the College of Real World Training and how
our communities are stronger and better thanks to the thousands
of chat tech graduates in our local workforce. For more
information about the paralegal program at Chattahoochee Tech, visit Chattahoochee
Tech edu. Thanks for listening to 98 seven Chattahoochee Tech,
where 98.7% of our students earn a career.
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