You never know where an Artsci degree will take you. It took Rachel Lewars to Bay Street, for an internship with a law firm this summer.  

Lewars, a fourth-year Arts & Science student at McMaster, spent 12 weeks interning at Blakes in Toronto through the Avenue internship program.  

Facilitated by the Ontario Bar Association, the Avenue program helps Black and/or Indigenous undergraduate students gain real-world experience in the legal industry. For students who may be interested in a legal career, it helps them build their networks and resumes, and learn more about what a career in law could look like. 

At Blakes, Lewars interned with the Legal Support Services team, getting to see how the office was run and receiving mentorship along the way. The internship also really opened her eyes to different practices of law, she said.  

“It’s been really lovely,” Lewars said. “I’d say I’m way more interested in pursuing law after this internship.”  

Her initial interest in law stemmed from being in the Arts & Science program, Lewars said.  

She had planned on pursuing solely science, but then heard about the Artsci program at Mac. It changed the entire trajectory of her career.  

“The way that Arts & Science classes work with their critical thinking skills, and the way that they blend their courses together really opened my eyes into social problems in the world and different ways of thinking.”  

The program has given her a big leg up to being able to pursue law, she said. She wrote the LSAT this summer; the preparation for that reminded her strongly of her Argumentation class in first year. “Lawyers have told me that law school, and the way that they train you to think, is very similar to what I’m currently studying in Arts & Science.”  

Impacting her community

Her experiences at McMaster and on Bay Street have also given her insight into the type of impact she wants to make.  

At McMaster, she works as a team lead at the Joan Buddle Service Desk in Athletics & Recreation, volunteers as a research assistant with the Graduate Students Association, and volunteers with the McMaster Students Union Maroons – representing McMaster’s student body and assisting at all MSU events and Welcome week. 

 She’s also worked as a varsity events announcer with the Marauders and moderated a panel for the Varsity Leadership Committee for mental health week in January.  

“I want to help people. I think I’ve always kind of been that way,” Lewars said. She’s always dreamed of creating widespread change, and is starting with a focus on the community around her. “Affecting the people close to me in a positive way, but adding to the world as a whole.”  

This led her to choose a thesis topic focused on examining the housing and reintegration policies in the greater Hamilton community. Lewars will be working on her thesis project over the next year, as part of the Artsci program.  

Lewars hopes that her experiences highlight the value of the Arts & Science program for others, particularly immigrants or racialized students who may not consider it.  

As the program grows in diversity, it will create even better experiences and opportunities for students, she said.  

“A lot of people don’t actually know what Arts & Science is, and they’re not really sure if that leads to a career,” she said. Her experiences have shown that it can take you to some unexpected places.