“I look for meaning in my work,” said David Konarske, Jr., ’21, describing a practice that has led him to rewarding opportunities as both a law student and alumnus.

At MSU College of Law, he immersed himself in extracurricular organizations, including the Student Bar Association and the Michigan State Law Review, also competing with the Moot Court Program and serving as a student clinician for the Immigration Law Clinic.

“It helped me become well-rounded as an advocate but also as a person,” he explained. “It allowed me to go through a bunch of different experiences and kind of decide what I liked and didn’t like, but less that and more of expanding my skillset in a whole bunch of different areas.”

Additionally, Konarske completed an internship per year while in law school: first, the Michigan Department of Agriculture; next, the American Shortline and Regional Railroad Association; and lastly, he worked for Judge David McKeague with the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Next, as a 2021 law school graduate, he will complete a two-year clerkship for Justice David Viviano of the Michigan Supreme Court. Konarske has entered each new opportunity with an open mind, and that approach has helped him to better understand in what direction he wants to take his career.

“I went in[to law school] with an idea of what I wanted to do. My general idea was that I wanted to do some sort of government work related to policy,” he explained. “Through law school, I refined it a little bit more and now my main interest, after my clerkship, is in regulatory and administrative law.”

Konarske earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Eastern Michigan University before coming to MSU in 2017, first to begin his master’s program in public policy, and later transitioning to a dual-degree program, which allowed him to complete his master’s and law degrees simultaneously.

“I realized through [my master’s program] that I really enjoyed the legal aspects of policy and government,” he said. “I liked policy, in general, but the thing with being in policy is it’s very math-based and so I was like, ‘You know, maybe law school is for me’.”

With his recent graduation, he reflected on the work he accomplished in law school, calling out two opportunities as particularly significant to his education. During his time at MSU Law, he was a staff editor and managing editor of the Michigan State Law Review.

“Law Review really stood out to me because I really enjoy a lot of the academic side of the law and breaking down ideas and using that to solve current problems and address current legal issues through your writing,” Konarske said. “It also gave me a good chance to use my policy hat in interacting with law because a lot of law school is learning what the law is and how to apply the law. […] It allowed me to put on the policy part of my education that was like: ‘What is the law? Why is it this way? How can we use that to address larger problems? How can we change it and mold it to fit what we want?’”

He also served in the Immigration Law Clinic as a third-year law student: “It gave me more of a mindset of applied use of my legal knowledge because I had to read the law, learn it, and understand it, then apply it to a real case. Professor Thronson – she’s great – was always there when you needed help and everything, but it also gives you a little bit of incentive to try and figure it out on your own. She was appropriately hands-on […] but she would stand back a little bit and let you learn, which is very helpful.”

As a first-generation student, Konarske encourages other aspiring lawyers to take advantage of connections in law school – peers and professors – who can help guide you and offer support throughout the experience. He also emphasized a lesson that he “had to learn a few times”: knowing yourself, what you want, and when you’ve learned all you can from an experience.

“Sometimes you go into an extracurricular activity or a job or a field and you realize that either it’s not for you or maybe it was for you when you started, but either the thing has changed or you have changed, and just deciding to use that as a learning opportunity and moving on from things when they naturally end instead of trying to double down on things.”

“I think law school can do that to people if you’re not paying attention – can force people into a narrower path,” he added. “I think keeping an open mind is important.”