After completing my BA in Honours History & Legal Studies, I returned to complete my MA in Canadian History. I then obtained my JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. After graduating and completing my articles, I founded Vong Law Professional Corporation, a law firm specializing in immigration and refugee law.
My history degree gave me all of the skills I needed to succeed in law school and in my legal practice. My professors taught me how to think critically, how to read and digest large amounts of information, and how to structure written and oral arguments convincingly. I learned to appreciate historical, social, and cultural contexts – a fundamental requirement in immigration and refugee law. I learned how to analyze issues from different perspectives and to defend more than one position – something every lawyer must do. Most importantly, I learned to write using active voice and I will always use the Oxford comma.
My professors instilled in me an intellectual curiosity, which is invaluable. Lawyers must always question the law – why does it exist, what purpose does it serve, what is its actual impact, does it achieve the desired result, and is it still relevant? Everything I needed to build my legal career I learned from my professors at UW.