铺路

Kim (Rodgers) Smith ’00 came to 皇冠体育 with a goal of becoming a lawyer. 她实现了自己的梦想，甚至被任命为地区助理法官。 

在她很小的时候就跟随她的宫廷侍从曾祖母多次前往法院之后，金宣布她想成为一名律师。 In reply, her great-grandmother told her, “No boy will ever want to marry you if you become a lawyer.”

尽管受到了这样的警告，但他决心成为一名律师。 她从高中开始在律师事务所工作。

“I always liked the work they do,” Kim said about lawyers. “我喜欢他们可以帮助别人，他们看起来很聪明，说话很好，他们可以很好地沟通。 他们只是我钦佩的人。”

到了上大学的时候，他在Mount Mercy大学过得很舒服。 她在一个爱尔兰天主教家庭长大，对慈悲修女会非常熟悉。 她钦佩修女们的工作和她们的使命，这使慈悲山成为一个非常合适的地方。

金教授原本主修英语。 她的刑事司法导论课引起了她的兴趣，让她更深入地研究这个问题。

“It incorporated all the social justice issues I was interested in, and I knew I wanted to go to law school, so I changed my major,” said Kim.

Kim觉得她的刑事司法课程是在为她未来的教育和职业生涯做准备。

“A lot of what we talked about was stuff I knew I would use when I went to law school,” said Kim.

When Kim wasn’t in class or studying, she kept busy. 她参加了合唱团，RA， MA2P董事会成员，戏剧社，开办了Mount Mercy模拟审判项目，参加了所有校际体育活动，并在发展和校友办公室工作了四年。

“If it was at Mount Mercy, I did it,” shared Kim. “Being involved helped me invest in campus and make lifelong friends,” shared Kim.

“If it was at Mount Mercy, I did it. Being involved helped me invest in campus and make lifelong friends.”
– 金·史密斯先生, 地区副法官|爱荷华州司法部门

毕业后，金继续致力于她的野马社区。 她在校友办公室的工作向她展示了与母校保持联系的重要性。 这激发了她加入Mount Mercy校友会。 Her time on the board has kept her close to campus and her friend Catherine (Metz) O’Connell ’00 who also serves on the board.

“It’s nice to come back and see how much investment has been made on campus,” said Kim.

金一直感到她的社区在国会山的支持。 Her professors, Dr. Mary Vermillion and Deb Brydon, made a particular impact on Kim’s life both at Mount Mercy and beyond.

“All those people showing confidence in me and talking to me about my career goals gave me the confidence I needed to apply to law school,” said Kim.

虽然法学院极具挑战性，但Kim觉得她在Mount Mercy建立的阅读和口译技能帮助她取得了成功。

“I was as prepared as one can be the first year of law school,” shared Kim. “The transition was somewhat flawless.” 

2003年毕业于德雷克大学法学院。 Then she fulfilled the dream she had shared with her great-grandmother when she was young—she began her career as a lawyer.

金从小就被法律所吸引的原因之一是它提供了帮助别人的机会。 这就是她对公法工作感兴趣的原因。

“Law is a helping profession,” said Kim. “There are people that need the help more, and that’s people who don’t have a lot of money or power in society.”

金律师担任助理公设辩护人长达13年。 她从事刑事辩护，成为一名经验丰富的出庭律师。

他在2020年被任命为地方刑事法官。 她的任命是一个改变人生的时刻。

“I worked really hard for a long time to get it,” shared Kim. “It felt incredible to achieve, it’s so rare in adulthood that you get other people to acknowledge what you’re good at.”

在授职仪式上，金回顾了凯瑟琳·麦考利（Catherine McAuley）和慈悲修女会（Sisters of Mercy）的工作。 虽然姐妹们主要以护理和教育工作而闻名，但金在自己的职业生涯中模仿了她们的使命。

“The Sisters of Mercy are a great example of people that serve the poor, and that’s what I do,” said Kim.

Kim ended her investiture speech with a quote from Catherine McAuley, “Resolve to do good today and better tomorrow.”