Folarin Dosunmu wants to argue. And he's good at it.

Though he won't get his UI law degree until this May, he already has a job lined up in the Chicago law offices of Lord, Bissell & Brook, where he worked last summer. As a temporary associate, "I knew it was mine to lose if I wanted a permanent job," Dosunmu said. "Ninety percent of everyone wants to get the same job you want."

But most of those 90 percent don't have Dosunmu's experience. As part of the College of Law Clinic, where supervised students with proper certification work as lead attorneys for people who otherwise could not afford a lawyer, he has already handled real cases from start to finish. Though he's not paid for his efforts, he sees clear rewards. "Just the look on the faces of the clients," Dosunmu said, makes his work worthwhile.

During a March conversation, Angel Gomez '91 LAS, JD '94 LAW, commended Dosunmu's effort. Gomez, a partner in the international law firm Seyfarth Shaw, is the former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association and a national leader in the field of diversity consulting.

"The reward for good work is more work," Gomez said to Dosunmu when they met in the Seyfarth Shaw boardroom in Chicago. "You'll get a lot of great experience if you are assertive enough to get that experience."

Gomez should know. His own drive to prove himself brought him to the U of I and, later, to his own successful law career.

When a high school counselor told Gomez he shouldn't attempt studies at Illinois because it would be too difficult, he took that as a challenge. "Well, what if I succeed?" Gomez thought. He worked hard, getting his bachelor's and then law degree from the U of I. He said coming to the University was the best decision he ever made.

In the 10 years since graduation, Gomez worked his way up, becoming a partner at two law firms before coming to Seyfarth Shaw, where one of his roles is to work with companies developing a plan to increase their minority hiring in a fair way. "Diversity is happening. It's just a question of how you're managing it," he said.

Folarin Dosunmu, left, and Angel Gomez share a joke in the board room of Gomez's Chicago law firm.

That desire to increase minority participation is another trait Gomez and Dosunmu share. Gomez is Hispanic and Dosunmu black. Both have felt the effects of working with people who assume ethnicity or race played a part in their getting academic or work opportunities. "You just have to prove them wrong," said Gomez to Dosunmu, who nods enthusiastically.

As the two trade stories of how they try to change the world, it's clear a bond is being formed. Gomez tells Dosunmu how he takes on pro bono assignments on behalf of disadvantaged people and works on committees promoting diversity and education. Dosunmu mentions how, prior to law school, he spent a year working with a basketball entertainment team promoting the benefits of racial harmony and staying in school, and another year working in Chicago public schools as an outreach coordinator and mentor.

"We pave the road, lend a helping hand," Gomez said of their efforts to help minority youth achieve their dreams.

Gomez himself first dreamed of a legal career when he participated in a mock trial in high school. Delivering his closing arguments, his eloquence made his teacher cry. "Everything that I've done from that point on was in order to become a trial lawyer," he said. "I wrote in my high school yearbook, 'In 20 years, I want to be a successful lawyer.'

"What was it [for you] that caused the spark?" he asks Dosunmu.

"I became fascinated with the analytical courses [in college]," Dosunmu said. "I became the devil's advocate."

Since then, Dosunmu has set goals for himself as well. In five years, he hopes to be one of Lord, Bissell & Brook's great young attorneys. "I'm ambitious," Dosunmu said. "I want to excel."

One day, Adam Cobb might have a few extra arms and legs around his office.

With an interest in medicine and prosthetics, the engineering student is working to create that future now. He's talking by phone with Gary Halford '60 ENG, MS '61 ENG, PHD '66 ENG, a senior scientific technologist in Ohio with 38 years of experience at NASA.

Halford

According to Halford, Cobb has already made one excellent move: being part of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics in the UI College of Engineering. "TAM is the absolute summit," Halford said. "The quality of the students is known internationally."

However, school name recognition alone won't lead to a successful career. Cobb needs to address some serious questions before he can decide his next move: Should he go to graduate school? Should he get an internship? Will all of his extracurriculars make him appear less focused to an employer? Is prosthetics even a viable field?

Adam Cobb, left, discusses his research with UI professor Kimberly Hill in Talbot Laboratory.

The answers are more complicated than yes, yes, no and yes.

Getting work experience before graduating is "pretty doggone important," said Halford. Students "need to know what goes on in the real world in a job," he said. By participating in work-study programs or doing an internship, he added, students get hands-on knowledge of what a job entails and how to succeed in it. That helps later, by giving students clearer goals and the directions to achieve them after college.

For Cobb, pursuit of his goals will likely lead to graduate school.

He should definitely consider it, said Halford, who found that getting an advanced degree opened industry doors. Though there's no kingly lifestyle — or regular hours — associated with grad school, for Halford the opportunity provided a chance to research, publish and learn about his field and the people in it. Departmental contacts also led him to NASA, where he was hired even before graduating. "It's a matter of looking at the investment," Halford said. "It would be a big advantage to have an advanced degree."

Right now, Cobb invests his time with much more than coursework. He is a member of the Illini Union Board and volunteers with a minority tutoring program and physics education program, among other activities.

"Life is more than just your job," said Halford. However, he said, it's important not to lose sight of career goals — and, in pursuit of that career, to give employers more and better work than they expect.

If Cobb is willing to work for it, Halford said, he could have a career that moves people — literally.

"There's always going to be this problem of prosthetic joints," Halford tells Cobb. "That particular job market is pretty much wide open."

Halford also counseled Cobb to talk to people in the field. Through networking, Cobb could learn not only about internship and job opportunities but also about what the job is really like.

Cobb has already found a contact in Halford, and the two plan to meet when Halford next visits campus. In the meantime, Cobb is developing the skills he needs. He already has the confidence. With a TAM degree from the U of I, Cobb said, "I'll be OK."

Photos of Dosunmu and Gomez: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin/UIC Photographic Services.

Photo of Halford: courtesy of Susan Mumm.

Photo of Cobb and Hill: Brian Stauffer Photo.