When Shayna Briseno-Brooks ’28 started the Hybrid JD Evening program at LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) last year, she was excited to pursue her law degree but didn’t think the experience would measure up to that of a full-time day student. There couldn’t possibly be the same camaraderie among her classmates or the same sense of accomplishment, she thought.
Now in her second year, she realizes she was wrong.
“You go through the same classes, you do the same tests, you go over the same material [as the day students],” she said. “It's made me take more pride in my degree.”
Briseno-Brooks is currently working full-time as a legal assistant at a family law firm in Long Beach and as a communications associate at Step Up, a nonprofit that provides mentoring for teens and young adults. Once she obtains her J.D., her goal is to practice criminal law.
The Hybrid JD Evening Program allows her to keep working while earning her law degree. Students take courses from 6-10 p.m. Mondays on campus and virtually on Wednesdays with a schedule that sets them up to graduate in four years.
Briseno-Brooks, who is the secretary of the Black Law Students Association, said LLS helps create community and camaraderie among the evening students through its Summer Institute, an optional preparatory program before the first semester of law school; mixers at New Student Orientation; the Evening Student Bar Association; and other clubs and societies. Her cohort also uses a Discord chat to organize meet-ups and social events.
“We have two doctors in our cohort,” she said. “We have an ER doctor and a plastic surgeon. We have people who work for NASA, and we have people who work for Netflix. There're so many different people, and they all come from different places.”
Briseno-Brooks eagerly awaited her opportunity to take Professor Michael Serota’s criminal law class in her second year, and it didn’t disappoint. His method of assigning exam-style questions for homework and then discussing the answers in class has helped her gain confidence in the material.
“He's put a lot of thought into the course, and that's why I love it so much,” she said. “Because when you go into exam time, you are already familiar with the way that he wants things written and you're familiar with what these questions will look like and what your answer needs.”
All the evening faculty have been passionate about teaching and go above and beyond to accommodate students’ schedules and other commitments, she said. They have even given students their cellphone numbers and encouraged them to call or text with questions – something Briseno-Brooks has never experienced before.
“It takes a lot to be a student at night. It takes even more to be a professor at night, trying to wrangle students' attention and just being there,” Briseno-Brooks said. “They're there literally every step of the way. I have had only great experiences with the evening professors.”
As a busy working professional, juggling a full-time job, law school, and personal commitments, Briseno-Brooks appreciates the Hybrid JD Evening Program’s predictability and organization. Between the on-campus commitment, Zoom courses, online learning tools like Brightspace, and annual schedules that are provided well in advance, she has a firm grasp of what is expected of her and how to manage her time.
“It's predictable. It's consistent. And that's what helps me work around the rest of my life,” she said.