Nhyira Esaaba Essel ’26, a Business Administration major, had initially hoped to study law, and her summer internship became a way to still pursue that interest while exploring how the two fields could intersect. 

Landing an internship at a law firm, Dotse@Law, however, took just a leap of faith. Despite the firm not advertising for interns, Essel decided to apply after frequently passing by its offices and noting its presence. “For the three months of summer, I told myself that I was still going to explore the law to see whether I would actually want to do it after school,” she said. 

Essel’s time at the firm offered a fresh perspective on her future path. She gained hands-on exposure to both legal and administrative work supporting lawyers in court. She drafted reports and engaged in legal research while also applying her knowledge in business administration to tasks like managing financial records and balancing invoices. These experiences revealed how much her business background could complement a future career in Law.

Essel learned the value of detail-oriented work and how critical clear communication is in both business and law. She also discovered that her training in business administration gave her an advantage when handling contracts and financial matters, offering a perspective that many purely legal minds might overlook. “I realized that law is not isolated; it connects with every field, and business is one of the strongest areas where that connection shows,” she shared. 

Meeting Patricia Appiah-Mensah, Esq., a senior colleague at the firm, became one of the highlights of the internship. Watching Patricia balance her legal practice with sharp business insight showed Essel that it’s possible to build a career that blends both fields seamlessly. “Having another background and adding law to it makes you a more specialized person,” Essel said. “So I think the business administration program I am currently reading is a step in the right direction.”