Originally from the rural Southwestern Ontario community of Chatham-Kent, Aimee attended École Secondaire Catholique de Pain Court for high school before beginning her undergraduate program. “I excelled in history classes in high school and I wanted to continue to pursue that,” Aimee recalls. “I didn’t consider what I would do afterward, I just knew that this was a subject that interested me so I went for it.”
Aimee was particularly interested in Laurentian’s bilingual course options. Having gone to a French high school, Aimee wanted to improve her English writing skills by taking her program in English. She was reassured by the fact that History courses were also offered in French at Laurentian, allowing her to take classes in French if she found the language barrier too challenging at any point.
Coming from a small town, Laurentian provided that same close-knit feeling for Aimee with small class sizes, friendly students, and engaging professors. “I built lasting relationships with professors and friends. My friends from Laurentian are still close and have regular get-togethers. A lot of the community I had at Laurentian is still strong today,” says Aimee.
Once Aimee graduated from Laurentian, she worked as an archivist but didn’t find the work fulfilling in the way that she had hoped. Shortly after, a friend encouraged Aimee to apply for law school, and on a whim she began studying for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). With a new dream of becoming a lawyer, Aimee was accepted to the University of Windsor where, in the spring of 2022, she obtained her Juris Doctor degree and was called to the Ontario bar in 2023.
Now practicing construction law, commercial litigation, and a touch of employment law at a London, Ontario law firm, Aimee is proud of where her career ended up. “A lot of the skills I learned in my History undergrad at Laurentian prepared me for the work that I do every day as a lawyer. I am writing or researching almost every day. I’ve always valued mentorship and I am grateful that I had that in my undergrad and I have that now in my firm,” said Aimee.
While preparing to argue her first appeal in Divisional Court, Aimee received a Facebook memory notification that 12 years ago “on this day” she had been accepted into her undergraduate program at Laurentian. It was a reminder of just how far she had come since deciding to pursue a history degree. “It was a moment of realization that 12 years before, I had started this journey and now here I am living what my past self couldn’t even have dreamt of,” said Aimee.
Aimee found her place in the professional world with hard work and by following her passion. “You don’t need to have it all figured out in your first year of university. Your passion is always going to lead you to where you belong and the opportunities out there are endless. Students should just do what they love and it will lead them to something great,” Aimee said.