Trinity Western University alumnus Brayden Koslowsky has accomplished a lot in his academic career, but his next step might just be the biggest. The 2013 Bachelor of International Studies graduate has just started his first semester at Harvard Law School.
For Koslowsky, getting his acceptance letter to the Ivy League school last spring was the result of one year of intensive studies and preparations for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). And he says he couldn’t have done without his TWU professors and friends.
“I had outstanding professors at TWU. Professors John Dyck, Paul Rowe and Cal Townsend were instrumental in me getting here,” he said. “The friends I made at the university were there to prep me for the law school process. They were really invested in my success.”
Koslowsky’s interest in law started during his degree at TWU, during which he was involved in the Foreign Affairs Society and the TWU Model United Nations. He also spent a semester studying at the Laurentian Leadership Centre and interning in the office of then-International Trade Minister Ed Fast at the Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development.
“I got to work on a small part of the Canada and European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement,” he said.
After graduating as the valedictorian of his class, he spent the next six months working at the university as a copy editor and as a teaching and research assistant, before moving to South Korea with his wife Natalie (’13) to teach English as a Second Language for a year.
It’s while in South Korea that Koslowsky decided he wanted to be a lawyer.
“My experiences at TWU, Guatemala and Southeast Asia ignited this desire to combine academic inquiry and practical work,” he said. “Lawyers are always learning and inquiring.”
He started preparing for the LSAT with the goal to get into UBC. The standardized test consists of six sections and lasts three and a half hours. Test scores range from 120 to 180. When Koslowsky received a score of 170, he realized he could get into any law school he wanted—not just UBC.
“I was ecstatic and I felt relief that my hard work wouldn’t be wasted,” he said.
He set his sight on Harvard, which is regularly ranked the top law school in the world. It has an acceptance rate of just 15 per cent.
While he’s hoping to work in international law, Koslowsky said that the size of Harvard Law School means he will have access to many law courses and clinics.
“I will have the opportunity to dabble in many different areas of law,” he said. “I’m already thinking about what kind of internship I can get.”
During the next three years, Koslowsky knows he will be able to count on the support of many people in the TWU community, including his wife, his mother, Angie (MSN), an admin. coordinator at the university, his brothers, alumnus Tyler ('16) and current student Jordan, his cousin Miranda, and the rest of his family and friends.