All Rise for the Honorable...
How one HPU class altered Shannon Cox's life path forever
A national pre-law conference took Shannon Cox to the White House and other centers of power in Washington D.C. Photo: Julianna Fedorich
By Cassidy O'Brien
Campus Chronicle
A junior at HPU, Shannon Cox, may have what it takes to be the next Marcia Clarke.
The New York native recently traveled to Phi Alpha Delta’s Pre-Law conference held in Washington D.C from November 1-November 4. The conference entailed visiting the Department of Justice, the White House, speaking to attorneys on Capitol Hill, and she even took her first run at the notorious L-SAT.
“It was an incredible experience, where I was able to not only learn what it takes to become a lawyer, but also what litigation work I could do, if I become one,” Cox said in a recent interview.
However, this wasn’t always the life that Cox pictured for herself. Cox didn’t find her love for law until took a course at HPU.
“When I was little, I always pictured myself as a nurse or doing something to help people,” Cox said. “I just never pictured myself helping them this way.”
When Cox started her college career at HPU, one of the requirements was taking a first-year seminar, titled We the Jury. After diving into the course material, Cox had an epiphany and found what sparked her passion for law.
“It was the first time I felt engaged in an academic setting,” Cox said.
“I knew that law would constantly spark my interest for the rest of my life.”
Cox's love for the courtroom shined through even before she discovered her passion herself. One of the most influencial people in Cox's life, her first-year seminar professor Dr. Scott Ingram, was blown away by Cox and her natural drive and passion each day she attended his class.
"I saw a potential in Shannon early on in the semester of my first-year seminar course and I knew she would be an asset to not only the Mock Trial Team, but the Criminal Justice Depratment as a whole," said Ingram. "I was surprised when she had told me she was undecided, as she had the potential to pursue law from the start."
Cox confirmed her love for law by declaring her double major as criminal justice and journalism, on the pre-law track. She even joined Phi Alpha Delta, the prestigious pre-law society at HPU.
“I still wanted to keep going on the journalism route because I knew one day that crime reporting could combine both the fields I love,” Cox said.
Cox hopes to further her endeavors by attending law school, and hopefully one day, practicing criminal law. She has already begun studying for the L-SAT and will be taking it in the fall of 2019.
For more information on Cox and her upcoming endeavors in law, visit her website at https://shannoncox1998.wixsite.com/mysite or her various social media platforms below.
According to Cox’s website, she believes that she possesses the “necessary skill set and professional background necessary to dive deep into criminal law and crime reporting.”
It was evident that others could see the fire that Cox held for all things law. She created valuable connections during that first-year seminar that led her to be recommended to participate in mock trial competitions.
“Mock trials are far more theatrical than real court but you can still tell your version of the story and make people believe it,” Cox said in a recent interview.
As previously mentioned, Cox recently traveled to Washington D.C. to meet others who share the same drive she has for the courtroom. This nationally recognized conference led Cox to incredible networking opportunities with individuals who were in her shoes not too long ago.
The president of the HPU pre-law society, Grace George, shared a few words about Cox in a recent interview after their trek to D.C. together. “Shannon is an exceptionally intelligent, hard working young professional that strives to achieve the highest degree of excellence in everything that she does,” George said.
Shannon Cox
Hometown: Ossining, NY
Major: Journalism
Minor: Criminal Justice
Dream Career: Attorney at Law
It wasn’t difficult for Cox to imagine working as a nurse, since all of the women on both her mother and fathers side worked in that profession. However, Cox did not have an easy life growing up, as she battled constantly with maintaining grades and her high standards for herself.
“In high school, I didn’t have really good grades and it got me into a poor fixed mindset,” Cox said. “I thought I wouldn’t become anything and that I wasn’t worth anything. It wasn’t until getting accepted into HPU that gave me hope that I could amount to something valuable.”
Cox came into her safe haven undecided, with the thought in the back of her mind of event management as she worked over the summer at Caperberry Events.
“I worked belong side the event coordinator of Caperberry Events and was highly interested,” Cox said. “I was good at my job so I thought that was what I was supposed to do but it was not until later I learned that it doesn’t matter unless you are truly passionate about what you do.”
Cox discovered her passion for law in her first-year seminar class, We the Jury, at HPU.