Mary DePew

Meet Mary DePew of Oakbrook, Illinois, currently an administrative assistant in a corporate legal department.

Q: Why did you choose the American Institute for Paralegal Studies?
A: Everything about AIPS appealed to me...it fit my lifestyle, my family obligations, and my time limitations. One of my bosses is a graduate of AIPS. When I told her I wanted to advance further into my career, she highly recommended AIPS. I was also impressed with the number of companies…like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola…that have sent their employees to AIPS.

Q: Why did you decided to pursue a paralegal program?
A: For years I’ve wanted more challenge than what I’ve been getting in the types of positions I’ve had. I’ve been an administrative assistant, and I’ve worked with litigation lawyers in law firms and now here at the corporation. I know I can do more. I want more mental stimulation, more challenge, and more respect.

Q:  Are you being challenged at AIPS?
A. Oh, definitely. The program is very in-depth—the materials, the textbooks, the instructors, the discussion questions—all make you think. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy all the classes and I thought some of them would be very dry and just something I had to get through, but that hasn’t been the case at all. The faculty teach everything from real life situations, so the classes are very interesting.

Q: What are your impressions of the faculty?
A: The instructors are lawyers who represent a cross-section of the law and are from all over the country. They are very accessible and flexible. The setting is a lot more personal than I thought it would be with the instructors. They’re very approachable and none of them are your typical stuffed-shirt types.

Q: How do you feel AIPS is different from other programs based on what’s important to you?
A: It offers the opportunity to prepare for national certification, which may become mandatory. The other thing that impressed me is at a university you study several subjects at once, never really having time to get to know any one really well. At AIPS, we concentrate on one subject per month, which allows you to study it in depth. Plus, we have unlimited access to real-world tools, such as Lexis, an online database of state and federal laws and statutes, law review articles, and historic cases.

Q: What do you like most about AIPS?
A: I like the combination of the discussion question, which is the e-mail folder where you go back and forth, with the current question and then you also have assignments that you work on by yourself, and I love that combination because you have some work that’s independent and then you have interaction with classmates, too, and you really feel like you’re a part of a larger group. The instructors will come back with follow-up questions on various responses that people have submitted and it makes you think and offers you a variety of different perspectives. There is much more interaction than I thought there would be, and I really enjoy it.

Stretch. Specialize. Succeed.