There’s No Justice if This Dream Fails

When Elizabeth Sullivan was young, she dared not tell anyone about her dream: to become a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I figured no one would take me seriously, it’s such a high goal” the 22-year-old UC Irvine senior said. “I never said much about it.”

But Sullivan feels a little freer these days to discuss her lofty ambitions, now that she is one of only two university students in the nation named to serve a summer judicial internship at the Supreme Court.

“I’ve always been interested in the law from a young age,” she said. “I find the idea invigorating.”

Sullivan, who will graduate in June from UCI with a psychology degree, plans to attend UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall Law School--the alma mater of former U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren, she points out.

After graduating from UCI, Sullivan will spend the summer in Washington, where she will put in 40-hour workweeks conducting research and “preparing correspondence” for the court.

She was selected from about 100 finalists for the internship, based on her academic record, a telephone interview and an essay on the importance of the American constitutional system.

“The beauty of the Constitution is that it allows for either a strict or a liberal interpretation,” said Sullivan, a San Marino High School graduate. “It allows the court to rule on issues the forefathers would never have anticipated.”

During high school, her interest in the legal profession grew as she competed in mock trials. “I thought it was wonderful to be able to defend your point of view,” she said.

Sullivan claims a special appreciation for the American judicial system because of her childhood in Saudi Arabia, where she was born. Her father, an oil company employee, had moved to the country temporarily.

“We came back to the United States because Saudi Arabia didn’t have any American high schools,” she said. “After living in Saudi Arabia, I think [citizens] definitely take what the laws of the United States offer its citizens for granted.”

At UCI, Sullivan has spent the last four years in the university’s honors program of advanced courses for high-achieving students. She also works with prospective UCI students as one of the university’s campus representatives. As far as summer internships go, Sullivan figures she has snagged one of the best.

“The most important thing is that I will be working with the best, so, inevitably, anything I learn should be a great benefit to my career,” she said. “I’m extremely honored.”