On a break from covering the U.S. House Intelligence Committee’s public impeachment hearings in late November as a law clerk in the U.S. Senate, Sheilah Jennings ’04 says to think and talk about St. Pius X High School for a moment is a welcome distraction.

Jennings, a teacher in the English and social studies departments at St. Pius X from 2010 to 2017, took the leap to pursue a law degree in 2017, attending the University of New Mexico School of Law. “While I was teaching, I went to grad school and during a class in the Federalist System, I was reading Supreme Court cases and thinking, ‘Why do I like this?’ And then, ‘I think this is what I want to pursue.’”

Now completing her third year of law school, Jennings’s fall internship in the Senate Judiciary Committee for Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is part of a UNM program that allows law students to work for a semester in Washington, D.C., for credit in the areas of federal law and practice. Jennings has spent much of her time with the Senate Judiciary Committee attending nomination hearings of federal judges.

“I wanted to pursue policy experience,” Jennings says. “This was a great opportunity to explore that interest. Day-to-day, it’s responding to quick needs of the attorneys working with the Senate, but a lot of the job in policy means being in tune with what is going on in the world and what is going on politically with Members. You have to stay tuned in because it is such a fast-paced environment. Policy work is also very nuanced. All actions and words are very deliberate.”

Pursuing all her opportunities has been Jennings’s driving force in navigating law school. “I just kept going for things, that was my attitude,” she says. “In leaving teaching I knew I was leaving something I loved doing, so I wanted to do well in law school and I wanted to make the most of it.”

Even at the end of 2019, she has 2020 and 2021 well in hand. She will return to UNM to finish her final semester and graduate law school in May. A job offer in corporate law waiting at Richards, Layton & Finger in Willington, Del., will be deferred for one year as she serves a clerkship with Federal Judge Joel M. Carson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Roswell beginning in August 2020. 

Her job at Richards, Layton & Finger in Delaware springs from her position as a summer associate with the firm in 2019. When she starts there in 2021, she hopes to pursue work in corporate bankruptcy and Chapter 11 restructuring — an interest she had no inkling of when she started law school but that opportunity and experience have opened to her.

Jennings, who also is newly married, says her experiences as a teacher and as a student at SPX helped shape her journey. 

“I felt my teachers at St. Pius always challenged me to rise to the occasion,” she says. “Teachers like Mr. (Mark) Robinson in AP U.S. History, challenged you to think about history in a way never presented before — not just trying to memorize facts, but what does it mean and what effects did it have. That, in conjunction with the strong writing program at St. Pius, encouraged me to think about things from various angles.”

Lessons from behind the teacher’s desk also informed her as a student. “I knew what I had to do to be successful,” she says. “I knew I had to put in the time, figure things out and have the confidence to communicate with professors.

“Truly, watching my students work hard at SPX, especially in AP U.S. History, gave me insider tips on how to be successful. Perseverance is everything. Whenever I feel like not giving it my all, I recall the perseverance my students exhibited daily. It is an inspiration.”

Jennings says delaying law school — graduating from the University of Dallas with a history degree in 2008 and spending seven years teaching high school — was the right path for her and many others. Her law school class ranged in age from 21 to 50 and included fellow Sartan alumni Nicholas Chiado ‘05, Ricardo Gonzales ’04, Dominic Romero ’09 and Hayden Wickens ‘13.

“When I started teaching, I loved it so much,”  she says. “But so many things are broken in the public education system. Getting a JD seemed the best way to effect change.”

Jennings says she wouldn’t be surprised if she found herself back at the front of a classroom again someday. Her advice for students for now? “To have an open mind toward the opportunities you’re facing and to not be afraid.”