Aidan Wasserman

Class	2022
Pronouns	He/Him/His
Home State	Washington
Study Abroad	Core Travel Course to India

Internship

Prison Law Initiative with Professor Stephen Miller

Have you had opportunities to apply what you’ve learned in your major to experiences outside the classroom?

I got to work with Professor Stephen Miller on his Champlain Prison Law Initiative, where students go into Vermont prisons and teach legal education courses to incarcerated individuals. I helped teach an evidence course and a more general intro to law course, both of which helped me grow my own knowledge base by preparing to teach, as well as gave me a perspective into prisons in Vermont. Meeting incarcerated individuals helped me humanize and conceptualize the overarching realization that people in prison are the same as any of us. They may have made one mistake, and while it might have been a really bad mistake, they still deserve support, empathy, friendship, and love.

Have you worked on-campus in either a part-time or work-study position?

I’ve worked on campus for the Admissions Office as a Student Ambassador since my second year. Through that job, I’ve become better at speaking on behalf of the causes I represent. I’ve become more aware of how marketing works and how the inner workings of colleges can function. I’ve also met numerous people that have become my friends for life, and I can’t imagine who I’d be without their influence.I also worked for the Student Government Association for three of my four years at Champlain. I served as a First-Year Representative and a Representative for the Division of Education and Human Studies. Both of these positions helped me grow in terms of how I interact with other representatives and do what I think is best for the students I represent.

How have you benefited from the Upside-Down Curriculum?

The Upside-Down Curriculum is around 60 percent of what drew me to Champlain. I truly don’t understand how other schools can possibly justify not allowing you to know if the major you choose is a mistake or not until it’s nearly too late to change. I personally was very lucky to choose correctly, but I’ve had friends switch majors once or twice to find things that they have a genuine passion for and can pursue careers in.