Michal Whitney, B.A. Philosophy Class of 2012
“Many of the skills I learned in philosophy apply directly to my legal education.”
In 2012, Michal Whitney graduated from Fort Hays State University with a B.A. in Philosophy. After working in the business field for eight years, she is now a law school student at the University of Kansas. Her primary interests lie in corporate law—an area she sees herself working in after law school, though she is open to other opportunities.
Whitney is grateful for her experience in the FHSU philosophy program, where she enjoyed the small class sizes and appreciated the individual attention she received from the professors in the department. One of her favorite classes was Dr. Drabkin’s Foundations of Modern Philosophy course. “Dr. Drabkin’s class was mind-blowing because I got to see where all the roots of our modern intellectual perspectives come from,” she says.
Whitney believes the well-rounded philosophy education she received at FHSU set an excellent foundation for her legal studies and helps her succeed in law school. “Many of the skills I learned in philosophy apply directly to my legal education,” she says. For example, her background in logic helped prepare her for the Law School Admission Test, and her experience reading dense philosophy texts gives her the stamina to read the difficult assigned readings in law school. She also points out another advantage of her philosophy background that has proved particularly useful: “I think I have an advantage over my classmates because as a philosophy student you learn to express every inference in your writing. You don’t leave anything to be inferred by your audience. That aspect of my philosophy training has been really helpful because you have to do the same thing in law.”
When asked what advice she has for current or future philosophy majors, she says, “Appreciate and take advantage of the bubble you’re in during college, where people are willing to free exchange ideas and listen to your perspectives. In the real world, people usually don’t care what you think, unless you’ve given them a reason to respect you, so try to become mindful in that unique college environment, where you have the opportunity to get honest feedback and people are willing to listen and respond to your ideas and perspectives.”